REJECTION OF the Lisbon Treaty in the October referendum would generate further “institutional wrangling” at European level and lead to a reduction in the number of commissioners, British foreign secretary David Miliband said in Dublin yesterday.
And in response to a question about Tony Blair’s suitability to become president of the European Council, he said the former prime minister would be an “excellent” choice, but added that the position could not come into existence unless Lisbon was ratified.
Speaking at a joint press conference at Leinster House with Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, he said: “The eyes of Europe will be on Ireland in the early part of October. Obviously it’s now for the Irish people to decide how to vote in the referendum. As you know, the position of the British government is very, very clear and the British parliament is very, very clear as well, that the Lisbon Treaty is good for Europe, we think it’s good for Britain and now it’s for you to decide whether or not you want it for Ireland and therefore for the rest of Europe as well.”
Asked about the implications of a second rejection of Lisbon in October, he said: “Obviously we would then have to try to live under Nice, and as you know, the Nice treaty requires a reduction in the number of commissioners, it doesn’t specify how many, but essentially if we don’t have the Lisbon Treaty we will return to institutional wrangling which has been the enemy of European progress over the last seven years.”
In the light of reported opposition by Spain and Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency, to having Tony Blair as President of the European Council, which would be established on a long-term basis if the Lisbon Treaty were passed, Mr Miliband was asked about his own attitude to Mr Blair as a possible president.
“I think he’d be an excellent president but there isn’t a vacancy at the moment because there isn’t a post and there won’t be a post unless there is a Lisbon Treaty. In my experience, there’s a lot of respect for Tony Blair around the world, never mind around Europe. He’s made his own contribution to Anglo-Irish relations, which I think is distinctive.
“But he’d be the first to say that there isn’t a vacancy at the moment, because there’s no job.”
Commenting on the recent arrests of British embassy staff in Tehran, he said: “The solidarity that’s been shown by the whole of the European Union, all 27 countries, on this issue of the arrest of the hardworking diplomats who are of Iranian origin but work for the British embassy in Tehran, is much appreciated.” Asked if he could see a time when himself and Mr Martin would be greeting each other at prime ministerial level, Mr Miliband said: “If you start thinking about other people’s jobs, you’re not focusing on your own job and I think we’re both focusing on our own jobs.”
Mr Martin said the two ministers had discussed the forthcoming Lisbon referendum, the arrest of British embassy personnel which Mr Martin described as “absolutely unacceptable”, and the situation in Burma in the light of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon’s impending visit there tomorrow. They also had “a brief overview of the Northern Ireland situation, particularly in the aftermath of the European elections and the range of issues that has emerged since then, in terms of devolution of policing, but also in welcoming of course the decision of loyalist paramilitaries to decommission their arms”.