EU: The Government's representative at the Convention on the Future of Europe, Mr Ray MacSharry, has rejected the Commission's proposal to enhance its role in EU economic and foreign policy.
Mr MacSharry said the European Commission's submission to the convention failed to address the disconnection between the EU and Europe's citizens.
He said there was little evidence to support the assertion by the president of the European Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, that Europeans want the EU to take on more responsibilities. "We need to explain why we're doing what we're doing now instead of taking a leap into the unknown," he said.
Mr MacSharry echoed Mr Charlie McCreevy's rejection of the Commission's wish to exercise greater influence over national budgets. He said control of budget policy was an essential element of national sovereignty.
"If we're talking about national governments being the building blocks of the Union, it doesn't make sense to take these sort of powers away from them," he said.
Addressing the convention, Mr MacSharry said there was no desire in Ireland or elsewhere in the EU to change the allocation of responsibilities between the Union and member-states. He said the Union should focus instead on being more efficient in using the competences it already enjoys.
He repeated Ireland's resistance to the abolition of national vetoes on tax issues, justice and home affairs and defence matters.
Mr MacSharry said he was confident that the Nice Treaty would be approved in a second referendum later this year. He pointed out that Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats had both included a commitment to Nice in their election manifestos and it was now up to both parties to put all their energy into the campaign.
The convention, which meets again today, was discussing decision-making procedures in the EU.
Some representatives from national parliaments have expressed unease at the way working groups have been organised by the convention's praesidium. They complain that some of the most important issues concerning Europe's future are not to be discussed in working groups.
Mr John Bruton, a member of the praesidium, said last night all issues would eventually be discussed, even if no working group had yet been allocated to them.
Four EU hopefuls - Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary - meet today in Slovakia for EU entry talks, in the first meeting since a dispute with Hungary divided them earlier this year.