The European Commission President has called for an ambitious EU treaty-making conference set for 2004 to be brought forward should Ireland fail to ratify the Nice Treaty by the end of next year.
In a surprise statement yesterday, Mr Romano Prodi said the inter-governmental conference (IGC), planned for 2004 to debate Europe's future, should take place quickly if Nice is not approved. EU enlargement must not be delayed, he said.
Mr Prodi's proposal, made in a keynote speech to the European Parliament in Strasbourg yesterday, would open the door for a more ambitious programme of EU integration to be discussed in the event of the fall of the Nice Treaty.
EU leaders agreed at Nice last December that the next IGC would consider some deeply contentious issues, going well beyond the institutional changes agreed at Nice. Supporters of greater integration see the Nice proposals as modest.
The agenda for the next IGC is to include the division of powers between national governments and the EU institutions, the future role of national parliaments and the prospect of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights developing into an EU constitution.
Mr Prodi said the current Belgian EU Presidency fully supported his analysis and agreed with this strategy.
He made it clear the purpose of bringing forward the negotiations would be to build on, not row back upon, the institutional changes "so painstakingly and laboriously agreed at Nice". EU leaders such as the French Prime Minister, Mr Lionel Jospin, and the German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder, have put forward much more ambitious proposals for the next IGC.
A Government spokesman last night declined to be drawn on what he said was speculation about a possible future scenario. "Our priority here is to have a debate on the issues to do with the future of Europe insofar as they were evident in the Nice referendum campaign."
He said the Taoiseach had written yesterday to all parties represented in Dail Eireann, inviting them to talks on the planned Forum on Europe. The Government would not be seeking to impose a blueprint, he said, and would listen to the Opposition before putting forward proposals.
However, the forum is expected to consist only of Oireachtas members, although representatives of broader groups such as those who campaigned against the Nice Treaty will be invited to make submissions and give oral evidence at forum hearings.
Mr Prodi's comments mark the most explicit EU recognition yet that Ireland may not ratify the Nice Treaty even if a second referendum is held as expected. His comments were welcomed last night by Green Party MEP Ms Patricia McKenna. However, she said she believed the next EU summit, at Laeken in Belgium in December, would agree a declaration "giving the impression that Ireland has been granted concessions".