THERE WAS growing acceptance among EU leaders in Brussels yesterday that allowing all 27 member states to retain a commissioner would be a key component of any deal to allow the Lisbon Treaty to be put to the Irish people in a second referendum next year.
While the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, warned that safeguarding the right of all EU member states to keep a commissioner would be "extremely difficult" to negotiate, there was mounting support for the idea.
The Polish minister for Europe told The Irish Timesthat his government would support retaining the current 27-member commission as a way out of the treaty impasse. "I don't think Poland would stand in the way if that was envisaged as a solution for the Irish people," said Mikolaj Dowgielewicz, Poland's minister of state for European affairs.
He said the loss of a permanent commissioner was an issue that had come up in Poland and he added that the EU gained in legitimacy by having a commissioner from every country.
Under the terms of the treaty, the number of commissioners would be reduced from the current 27 down to 18 in 2014, unless "the European Council acting unanimously decides to alter this number". Such an agreement would not require re-ratification of the treaty by any member state and it would break the impasse caused by the Irish vote.
A second referendum on Lisbon would be required to allow all 27 countries to retain their commissioner as the number is due to be cut under the terms of the Nice Treaty.
During talks yesterday, the Irish side resisted efforts by the French and the German governments to set down a timetable for the detailed response to the referendum decision.
Speaking to his colleagues at the European Council over dinner last night, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he was grateful for the close co-operation Ireland had received from so many quarters and looked forward to this continuing.
"I strongly believe that it would be counterproductive to any potential way forward that might emerge in due course for us to attempt to predetermine a precise timeframe for that process now.
"However, if colleagues believe it would be helpful, I would have no difficulty in reporting on the progress being made when we gather again in this format in October. I will maintain close contact with the incoming presidency on this," Mr Cowen told his colleagues, just hours after Estonia became the latest EU member state to ratify the treaty.
Mr Cowen said that for his first appearance as Taoiseach at the European Council, he would clearly not have chosen as his first task to have to advise colleagues that the Irish people had rejected the treaty.
But, he said: "For all of us, the will of the people is sovereign. They have spoken at the ballot box, the ultimate democratic forum, and the Government accepts their verdict.
"The principles of democracy must be the threads that weave the fabric of the European Union. I am sure this is a view you all share. I acknowledge that our vote has obvious implications for our partners here around this table."
Mr Cowen stressed there was no strong suggestion emerging from the referendum campaign that Irish people were any less committed to membership of the Union than they were in the past.
"Against that positive background it is clear that the debate reflected anxieties about potential future developments and the potential future direction of the Union," said Mr Cowen.
He listed the specific worries of farmers and unions as well as arguments relating to the loss of a commissioner and the change in voting arrangements. Mr Cowen also pointed to common defence as a major concern and that it might, over time, involve an obligation to support a European military force.
"I know that the situation regarding the referendum, which I have just reported to the council, is a difficult one. I believe that it is our responsibility to work together, in the spirit of solidarity which has served the union so well for decades, to find a viable way forward," he said.