EU: The EU's new constitutional treaty will have to be ratified by all member-states before it comes into force, according to draft articles presented to the Convention on the Future of Europe.
However, if some countries fail to ratify the treaty within two years, the matter will be referred to EU leaders meeting in the European Council "to assess the political consequences".
The draft articles presented yesterday also include a mechanism for countries to leave the EU, an eventuality that is not foreseen in the existing EU treaties. If a member-state decides to leave the Union, the other countries, voting by qualified majority, would conclude an agreement on the departing country's future relationship with the EU.
The Minister for Europe, Mr Dick Roche, said the Government would raise no objection to the exit clause "as long as it doesn't mean a forced exit".
Mr Roche and six other representatives of national governments yesterday presented a set of principles for the institutional reform of the EU which now has the support of 21 countries. At the heart of the document, most of which was drafted by Irish officials, is an appeal for the preservation of the rotating EU presidency and opposition to a permanent EU president.
Meanwhile, former Taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald and former German president Mr Richard von Weizsaecker are among those who have signed a letter calling on the convention to give education and culture a prominent place in the new treaty.
