European Union leaders last night set a deadline of June 18th to agree a new constitutional treaty, marking a dramatic turn in the negotiations which collapsed just three months ago.
Officials from the 25 existing and accession member-states will shortly begin drafting compromise texts for the disputed parts of the treaty, paving the way for final political negotiations between foreign ministers and EU heads of state and government.
No timetable for these talks was set last night, but last night EU sources said Europe's political leaders were unlikely to put forward their final compromise positions until after the European parliament elections on June 11th and 12th. Governing parties in several member- states fear that compromising on key issues in advance of those elections would be exploited by the opposition for electoral gain.
This opens the prospect of intensive last-minute talks in the week preceding the main European Council meeting of the Irish Presidency on June 17th and 18th. The first political-level discussion of the constitutional treaty is now expected to take place in Tullamore on April 16th and 17th, when the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, hosts an informal meeting of his EU colleagues.
The decision to set a deadline is seen as reflecting a high level of optimism that a deal will be done. Political analysts said last night that having failed to reach agreement under the Italian EU presidency last December, the leaders would not risk a second failure, and therefore have high hopes of success.
"Things went very well," the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said late last night. "There is obviously still a lot of work to do as soon as appropriate we will arrange for a resumption of formal negotiations."
Last night's decision is seen as a significant achievement for the Taoiseach, who began an intensive round of discussions with EU leaders in January after the failed attempt at striking a deal in December. The indication from Spain and Poland that they are now willing to consider the so called "double majority" system of decision making at European Council level is seen as the major factor in the changed situation.
The European Parliament President, Mr Pat Cox, said last night that the decision signalled "a breakthrough ... The impasse that was signalled last December has been broken," he said, and there was now a high probability of success.
Meanwhile the EU has promised tough action within weeks to tackle terrorism in the wake of the Madrid massacre, appointing Europe's first counter-terrorism co-ordinator, who starts work on Monday.
The Taoiseach also hinted that Ireland could drop its objection to the abolition of the national veto in some areas of criminal law and judicial co-operation, saying that "useful meetings" on the issue had taken place in recent days.
Mr Ahern said that all EU leaders promised in Brussels last night to implement, without delay, anti-terrorism measures approved in the wake of September 11th, 2001, and to take new steps to improve security co-operation.
The leaders agreed that all member-states must implement six key measures, including a European Arrest Warrant to simplify extradition, by June at the latest. The EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, will report before the end of the Irish presidency in June on how to improve the sharing of intelligence.
Mr Gijs de Vries, a former secretary of state in the Dutch interior ministry and his government's representative at the Convention on the Future of Europe, will become the EU's first counter-terrorism co-ordinator. The leaders also adopted a declaration of solidarity against terrorism, committing EU governments to come to one another's aid in the event of a terrorist attack.
Among new measures proposed are rules on the retention of communications traffic data by service providers, the exchange of information on terrorist convictions, cross-border hot pursuit and a European register of convictions and qualifications.