Ministers seek to hasten EU treaty reform

FRUSTRATED by the lumbering pace of EU treaty reform negotiations, the EU's foreign ministers in Tralee yesterday made clear that the politicians feel they have been left on the sidelines for too long.

The informal meeting sent a strong signal that it expects the October 5th Dublin summit to shift the whole process into another gear.

And to emphasise the determination to speed the process, Germany and France announced yesterday that their foreign ministers will meet three days ahead of the summit to plan a common approach.

Overshadowed by a failure to agree a position on the bombing of Iraq, the Tralee meeting nevertheless also marked the emergence of an important new consensus on post election Bosnia and relaunched EU involvement in the Middle East peace process.

Speaking at the end of what he said was a very successful meeting, the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, confirmed that strong backing was emerging for a continuing political commitment by the EU to institution building in Bosnia after the elections over the next two years.

The ministers heard a report from the Dayton High Representative in Bosnia, Mr Carl Bildt.

He warned that the aftermath of the election would be the most difficult period yet for the Union's involvement and that the international community had to maintain a "robust" if reduced military presence.

The ministers agreed to send a Troika mission to the Middle East as soon as possible and reiterated its determination that such a mission should visit Orient House, the Palestinian headquarters in East Jerusalem.

There is wide acknowledgment that in the Inter Governmental Conference the detailed work of officials has made significant progress in narrowing the options.

However, ministers are concerned that the process of real political bargaining has not yet begun.

The problem is whether the preparatory work will allow the first Dublin summit, only a month away, to do more than address general principles.

The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Malcolm Rifkind, was pessimistic yesterday. "There is always a danger of having too many summit meetings and arranging for meetings before you know if there will be issues to be addressed and resolved," Mr Rifkind said.

The German Foreign Minister, Mr Klaus Kinkel, said they would have to "drive, drive, drive" the process forward.

Mr Spring was adamant that the meeting would help the process of reaching the December target for a first full draft treaty setting out the options for the final stage of political negotiation to begin next year.

But it was not all work, and both ministers and the more than 300 journalists in town enjoyed lavish traditional hospitality described by the enthusiastic El Pais correspondent as "so warm we felt ourselves entirely at home".