EU LEADERS began putting the final jigsaw pieces into the hugely complex negotiations on a new European treaty in Noordwijk on Friday. They welcomed into the fold with enthusiasm the new face of Britain.
The Dutch Foreign Minister, Mr Hans van Mierlo, was most effusive. The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and his Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook were "talking a different language" to that of their Conservative predecessors, Mr Van Mierlo said.
The Taoiseach described the meeting as a success, borrowing Mr Blair's phrase of a "people's Europe" to list the broadly agreed people friendly aspects of the new treaty - provisions on employment, sustainable development public health and consumer protection.
The leaders reaffirmed their strong commitment to finalising the treaty at the Amsterdam summit on June 16th.
Frances President Chirac warned his fellow leaders that failure in Amsterdam would not make any of the contentious issues any easier to resolve later; indeed they might become more difficult.
Significantly for Ireland, Mr Chirac spoke of the need for only a rapprochement of the WEU and the EU, a signal welcomed by the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs that France may now recognise that a merger is not on the cards this time around.
Mr Spring said the discussion represented an important refining down by leaders of their real priorities in the talks ahead of the summit.
New strands of potential agreement in difficult areas also became clearer - British sources spoke of a willingness on their part to see community institutions involved in justice and home affairs cooperation as long as this remained in the intergovernmental "Third Pillar".
They backed Irish concerns that decision making in the incorporation of the Schengen Treaty would be inclusive of Britain and Ireland. The Taoiseach said Ireland should not be excluded from cooperation in the fight against crime.
The French and Germans also circulated details of a new proposal on reweighting votes in the Council of Ministers. If adopted it would increase the share of votes of Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain from 55 to 63.5 per cent and cut the representation of the smallest states, such as Ireland and Luxembourg, by a quarter.
The proposals are designed to bring voting strengths more closely into line with population size and may end being part of a tradeoff whereby the small countries in exchange keep their entitlement to a commissioner.
As for Mr Blair, like a washing powder salesman, the emphasis was on the word "new". New Labour wants a "new partnership with Europe" and indeed a "new, people's Europe" for the "new millennium".
Labour's new formula for Europe is certainly softer on the skin, but, many observers asked, mood music and some reform of voting apart, is it really that different in substance from the Tories?
It was Mr Blair's personal summit. Few if any decisions were going to be taken. They all wanted to take his measure and he gave them what they wanted the possibility of a deal at Amsterdam and a different approach. Labour's victory, he told fellow leaders, was a victory for constructive engagement in the Union.
He had sensed a deep division during the election campaign in Britain between those visceral anti Europeans and the substantial majority who wanted to be engaged but believed that Europe had become distant from its people. He called for a refocusing away from the institutional issues to what really mattered to the person in the street: jobs, competitiveness, the environment and consumer rights.
It was predictable stuff and could have been scripted for any of the leaders. What about the real substance? There is no doubt that from an Irish perspective some continuity in British policy is desirable, notably on the WEU-EU merger issue. And on the incorporation of Schengen into the treaty there is only the barest shift in emphasis, enough, admittedly, to make a deal possible.
He may want to step into the mainstream of Europe, to play a leadership role on a par with France and Germany, but it is clearly not an integrationist agenda. Foreign policy, security, police or justice cooperation, he made clear, according to a senior British source, are "sensitive areas best handled intergovernmentally".
"We want a Europe of independent nationstates. We don't believe in some federal superstate," he told journalists.
Mr Blair made clear in his presummit meeting with the president of the Commission, Mr Santer, that while Britain may be willing to sign up for the Social Chapter it does not want to see a flood of new social legislation coming from Brussels.
