THE President of the European Commission, Mr Jacques Santer, said he "was never in the least alarmed" by a suggestion made by the German Chancellor that another IGC might be needed if the present one did not agree radical EU reform, writes Mark Brennock.
Chancellor Kohl said in Dublin on Thursday that a "Maastricht 3" process might be needed before the European Union could accept new members. This was because the present process, "Maastricht 2", might not reform the EU sufficiently to allow it function as a larger unit.
"I know Chancellor Kohl very well indeed. I know the degree of his commitment to the European Union. So I was never in the least bit alarmed by anything Chancellor Kohl has said about foreign policy," Mr Santer said.
He said another IGC ("Maastricht 3") might occur in 10 or 20 years.
But the present one, he stressed, would have to solve the major challenges facing the Union before enlargement.
