The draft of a new constitution for Europe calls for sweeping changes to EU institutions, including a strengthened foreign and security policy.
But the document, which will be discussed at the Convention on the Future of Europe over the next three weeks, has abandoned some of the most ambitious proposals for deepening European integration.
Former Taoiseach Mr John Bruton TD, who is a member of the convention's 12-person praesidium, welcomed the draft as "a major advance" but said the coming weeks would prove crucial.
"This is probably going to be the most important three weeks in Europe's constitutional history over the past 40 years," he said looking forward to the final drafting sessions before the convention presents its proposals to the prime ministers and heads of state at the EU summit in Greece next month.
Any new constitution for the EU would have to be negotiated at an intergovernmental conference (IGC) and would have to be unanimously agreed by the member states. A referendum similar to the Nice Treaty poll would be held in Ireland.
The praesidium was unable to agree on a revised version of articles reshaping the European Commission and the Council of Ministers and changing representation in the European Parliament. These issues are expected to be the focus of the convention's most intense negotiations before the constitution is presented to EU leaders on June 20th.
The first part of the document,which was published yesterday, maps the constitutional structure of the EU and outlines the Union's objectives. The Charter of Fundamental Rights occupies the second part of the constitution and the third part, which will be published today, sets out how EU policies are decided and implemented.
Mr Bruton said the articles released today will answer Irish concerns over proposals that could lead to tax harmonisation. The new text says that EU governments could decide to use majority voting on policies dealing with cross-border fraud and co-operation on tax administration, but only if they first agreed unanimously to do so.
Mr Bruton said that today's text would also reassure Irish policy makers who have concerns about harmonising rules of criminal procedure and the role of the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The Minister of State for European Affairs, Mr Dick Roche, gave the document a guarded welcome, stressing that negotiations would continue. He said it was "much simpler and easier to read than the existing treaties".
Mr Roche insisted there would be "no major alteration in the Union's basic character or in its powers".
The Eurosceptic campaigner, Mr Anthony Coughlan, condemned the draft as "the latest giant lurch in the direction of an EU federal superstate under Franco-German hegemony".
He described the "whole procedure" as fundamentally undemocractic.
The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, demanded a Dáil debate. "I am calling upon the Taoiseach to outline the level of cooperation that the Government has sought with other small EU States."
Equal in Europe, a group which opposed the Nice Treaty, said it was "dismayed at the draft constitution and the apparent disregard for genuine debate".
A spokesman said: "It is definitely a move towards an EU superstate and merely removing the word 'federal' does not disguise this intent."
Labour MEP Mr Proinsias De Rossa welcomed "the explicit references to combating social exclusion and to promoting social justice and social protection".
However, Green Party TD Mr John Gormley said that most convention delegates opposed having a president of the EU Council "but because the larger states favour this it appears as one of the draft articles".