European Commissioner and former minister for finance Charlie McCreevy has warned against using the referendum on the Constitutional Treaty due to take place next year as an opportunity to give the Government a mid-term "kick in the backside".
Speaking in Dublin today at the 45 thannual meeting of the Association of European Journalists, Mr McCreevy said voters should consider the national interest when voting in the treaty referendum.
The referendum was "not a time for self-indulgence, for putting the two fingers up at a Member State government or at the EU institutions", Mr McCreevy said.
He said the treaty was necessary because the decision-making structures of the Commission had been designed for 6 countries even though there were now 27 member states.
"It would certainly fly in the face of the compelling need to enable the 27 Member States to create the institutional framework needed to tackle some of the critical issues of our time and to do so on behalf of and in the interests of every Member State and its citizens - issues that can only be tackled collectively", he said.
Issues such as migration; border controls; global warming; and challenges posed by international terrorism could not be met by member states operating alone.
"Shared solutions are essential because what we face in the 27 Member States are shared challenges in respect of which we need to co-operate with super-powers in the rest of the world."
He also called on Europe's employers and workers to prepare for the increased pace of globalization.