GERMANY: Ireland has no interest in being part of a European super-state, according to the Minister of State for Europe, writes Derek Scally in Berlin.
At a conference in Prague yesterday, Mr Dick Roche said the Government was anxious that the EU reformed itself to address the democratic deficit, but that Ireland sought "renewal, not revolution. It is not our aim or our wish to strive for some sort of superpower status for the union. That status is not and should never be part of Europe's ambitions." The EU had been a "powerful engine of economic and social progress in Ireland".
However, as it went through a renewal process at the Convention on Europe, "it is crucially important that we do not imply that the union has greater competence than is actually the case". The Government was willing to be "constructive and non-dogmatic" when discussing vital institutional reform but it was also anxious to preserve core principles balancing powers between member-states and Brussels.
Mr Roche added: "We are not envisaging any major transfer of power or creation of any new area of activity for the union."