Efforts by larger European Union states to freeze their contributions to the EU's budget will damage enlargement, Ireland's EU Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, has warned.
The EU's biggest paymasters - Germany, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria - last week proposed that contributions should be capped at 1 per cent of Gross National Product up to 2013.
"If you are going to have a budget at status quo it seem to me that this lacks any ambition for the new member-states that are coming in," Mr Byrne said in Dublin yesterday.
He warned that the battle over the EU's budget 2006/2013 budget, which is to be completed during Ireland's EU Presidency, will affect parallel efforts to agree the EU Constitution. "It seems to me that these two ambitions are irreconcilable. It will be very difficult to have an effective enlargement," Mr Byrne told the Irish Association of European Journalists.
The 10 states joining the EU next May, most of whom have just 50 per cent of the average EU earnings, have "expectations" that Structural and Cohesion Funds will help them develop, he said.
The European Commission last week agreed a €22 billion development aid budget for the new member-states, but this will only cover spending over the next three years. Some of the bigger member-states, said Mr Byrne, frequently call for greater EU integration, yet they fail to honour agreements already made.
Rejecting arguments that pro-integration states should form "a core Europe", the Commissioner said: "I am not sure that I am convinced about their credibility in this area." Offering an example, Mr Byrne said the EU had given him responsibility for drafting an EU-wide policy on genetically-modified foods, yet they subsequently failed to accept it.
Questioned about the Government's response to last weekend's EU summit failure, Mr Byrne said he believed the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, has correctly adopted "a cautious approach". Saying the Government has the "experience and ability" to deliver a deal, Mr Byrne said: "If there is an opportunity to make progress [on the inter-governmental conference] then I imagine that they will take it."
The Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner was questioned about his apparent criticism of Ireland's attitude towards neutrality following remarks he made in Brussels last week.
Yesterday, the Commissioner said the agreement reached on defence issues protected Ireland's neutrality, since the Government will be able to look at requests for aid from fellow member-states "on a case-by-case basis".