The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern today stressed the need for efficiency and transparency in decision-making as the newly expanded European Union prepares its first joint constitution.
Speaking in the Finnish capital, Helsinki, Mr Ahern said he was concerned Ireland, as the rotating president of the union, had not been able to find agreement among members on how votes should be allocated in the union of 25 member states.
"The vote and weight issue has probably dominated the discussion over the last 12 months. It was also a vitally important issue debated within the convention at all levels," he said.
Mr Ahern held 90 minutes of talks in Helsinki with Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, who cautioned that certain voting models proposed by members would hinder decision-making.
"Some of the proposed models would lead to a very inefficient decision-making process, whereby the blocking of decisions would be too easy, and that would not suit Finland's goals," Mr Vanhanen said.
The Taoiseach stressed that the new constitution should facilitate decision-making. "The big issue for all of us is that in a larger Europe . . . we want to have a European Union that is efficient, that is decisive, that can make decisions," he said.
"So, we want in our constitution a system that would give us that process," he said. "I think there's not a question of division on these issues we all want to get a system that would make the decision-making process clear, transparent, and effective for the future."
Mr Ahern will continue his visits today to Estonia and Latvia, both among the ten new members that joined the EU on May 1st.