European Parliament President Ms Nicole Fontaine said no concessions must be made to Ireland to secure its approval for the Nice Treaty paving the way to enlargement of the EU.
In a speech at the EU summit, Ms Fontaine said the Irish rejection of the Nice treaty in a referendum last week must be taken seriously as it is a "warning signal sent by a member state of irreproachable European credentials," although she added that the large number of abstentions in the vote makes the result "difficult to interpret."
Ms Fontaine said that whatever "clarifications" are made to allay the concerns which led to the Irish No vote, these "must not lure the (European) Union into the shifting sands of compromise arrangements, let alone exit clauses."
Such a course of action would "completely distort the substance of the treaty and the mutual undertakings given at Nice," Ms Fontaine said.
She said this was true particularly of Irish concerns about its participation in the European rapid reaction force, which has come under criticism in Ireland because it is regarded by some as making inroads on the country's traditional neutrality in military matters.
Ms Fontaine also said the EU leaders should with "courtesy and frankness in equal measure" raise a number of issues with the US, including opposition in Europe against the death penalty, the Echelon surveillance network which may be "abused for purposes of unfair competition," the US plans for a space-based missile defence shield and its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol on the environment.
AFP