Nice will 'enhance' Irish neutrality, says Cowen

A Yes vote in the Nice Treaty referendum will enhance the prospect of Irish neutrality, Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Cowen said today.

Speaking to reporters in Dublin, Mr Cowen said a Yes vote would give neutrality constitutional expression for the first time.

Mr Cowen said the Nice Treaty was "critical for the future prosperity of the country. There is no cogent economic argument for a No vote".

He said he hoped the public's decision on the treaty would be made based on clarity of the issues rather than on confusion.

At a press conference in Dublin this morning the Green Party had said a Yes vote would be bad for smaller countries in European Union, bad for African countries and would lead to a two-tier Europe.

Green Party Leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said that "the larger countries and their political parties support this Nice Treaty deal because it swings power back in their favour".

Mr Cowen said this supposition showed a "complete misunderstanding of the political dynamics for effective decision making in the EU".

He said Ireland has always "punched above its weight" in Europe and the extension of qualified majority voting would benefit the State as it had done in the past.

Mr Cowen said: "The only two-speed Europe that's on the table at the moment is if we don't ratify this treaty and 12 applicant nations stay out of the EU and are denied the opportunity that we've had for the last 30 years." The Nice referendum campaign is to be discussed by the Cabinet at meeting in Dublin tomorrow morning. A Government spokesman told ireland.comthe campaign would be the main focus of the meeting but that other issues would be discussed.