No decision now on Irish referendum, says Cowen

CHANGES TO TREATIES:TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen said it was not possible at this point to say whether the decision of EU leaders to pursue "limited" changes to the treaties will lead to a new Irish referendum.

While restating the Government’s belief that there was a requirement for a permanent sovereign rescue mechanism in the euro zone, he declined again to say whether that should include formal insolvency procedures.

Asked if he indicated to fellow leaders that it would be possible to go down the road of narrow treaty change without a referendum, Mr Cowen said he merely reiterated the point that any proposed change would have to be examined on its own merits.

Mr Cowen’s reluctance to set out the Government’s policy is at odds with the position adopted by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan. In the Dáil on Thursday, Mr Lenihan made it clear that Ireland wants to avoid having to hold a referendum.

“Were international negotiations to be embarked upon and were this State to commit itself to any fresh treaty in relation to these matters, the Irish Government would be anxious to ensure that any such treaty would not entail an amendment to the Constitution,” Mr Lenihan said.

As the EU summit reached its conclusion, the Taoiseach said the question of a referendum was not a matter of personal political preference but added that treaty change would not automatically lead to a referral to the people.

“The point I’ve made in my opening remarks is that the treaty provides specifically for a lighter mechanism to be used when the change required does not involve a transfer of any competence from the member states to the union,” he said. “So it’s not the case that under Irish constitutional law in every circumstance regardless of the content or substance of the proposed treaty change that a referendum is required.”

On German calls for the permanent mechanism to include insolvency procedures, Mr Cowen said only that there would be an opportunity for “discussion” on such matters “when we have the detailed and worked-out proposal”. German demands, resisted by Dublin, for voting rights to be stripped for countries who break EU budgets were pushed out into the long term but remain on the table. “We’re happy with those conclusions as far as they go,” Mr Cowen said.

Asked about a push by his British counterpart David Cameron for a limit on the proposed increase on the EU budget for 2011, Mr Cowen said he supported the European Council’s call for a 2.9 per cent increase.

The European Parliament wants a 5.9 per cent rise and negotiations are under way with member states.

While Belgium’s rotating presidency of the EU argues for leeway, Mr Cameron has aligned to form a blocking majority with about a dozen other EU leaders.

Mr Cowen did not join Mr Cameron’s group. If his alliance holds, the council would not be able to raise its position in talks with MEPs. Stalemate would mean the 2010 budget would be rolled over, meaning there would be no funding for the new European External Action Service.