French want Cowen to hold another referendum quickly

Alain Lamassoure: urged Ireland to vote again in spring

FRANCE: FRENCH ADVOCATES of the Lisbon Treaty are maintaining pressure on the Irish Government to hold a second referendum as quickly as possible, preferably by the end of next March.

The former government minister and member of the European Parliament Alain Lamassoure, in an interview with Europolitique this week, urged Ireland to vote again next spring.

"The 26 [other members of the EU] cannot accept that a second referendum take place after the European elections [in June next year]," Mr Lamassoure said.

"It's not possible. You cannot campaign in uncertainty, without knowing whether it will be on the basis of Nice or Lisbon . . ."

Mr Lamassoure is said to have the ear of President Nicolas Sarkozy and was seriously considered for the post of minister of European affairs. If the Irish don't vote again before June 2009, he warned, there will be no point in holding a second referendum at all.

The French fear a snowball effect if the Irish Government delays too long. "Then the Lisbon Treaty will not survive the winter, for it would create problems in other countries," Mr Lamassoure asserted.

"The Polish president may not sign the law ratifying the treaty. The Czechs could decide not to submit ratification of the treaty to their newly re-elected senate, and in the meanwhile the British prime minister, Gordon Brown, who is worn out, may call an early election. If he is replaced by David Cameron, the latter might review the ratification of the treaty."

Mr Lamassoure's conclusion is that "if Irish ratification is not legally completed by June, there will be no more Lisbon Treaty. And in the European elections, the Eurosceptics will triumph."

Pressure from Paris, where Taoiseach Brian Cowen will lunch with Mr Sarkozy on October 1st, is most intense, because Mr Sarkozy considers himself the saviour of the treaty, and because France holds the rotating presidency of the union. But Germany shares a sense of paternity for Lisbon, and has joined France in exerting pressure on Mr Cowen.

However, Mr Cowen's go-slow approach may be saved by divisions within the union. Britain, Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden advocate giving Ireland whatever time is required. The Czechs and Swedes will hold the presidency next year, after France.

"The wisest approach is not to hurry; it's a question of respect for the Irish," Swedish European Affairs minister Cecilia Malmström told Le Monde .

"We have all agreed to give the Irish time."

This article appears in the print edition of the Irish Times