EU foreign ministers have ruled out renegotiating the Treaty of Nice, which lays the groundwork for EU enlargement, after the ‘No’ vote in last Thursday’s referendum.
But Swedish Prime Minister Mr Goran Persson, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, said that EU expansion to include new members may be delayed or hampered by the vote.
In a statement issued during a meeting in Luxembourg, the foreign ministers said: "While respecting the will of the Irish people, ministers expressed their regret at the results of the Irish referendum on the Treaty of Nice."
The foreign ministers, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, "excluded any reopening of the text signed in Nice" southern France, last December, the statement said.
Mr Persson had a more negative assessment, telling parliament in Stockholm today: "The referendum is a setback for enlargement which was to bring to a decisive end Communist influence over eastern Europe."
"We currently risk seeing it (the enlargement process) delayed or hampered," he said.
The European Union agreed in Nice on a treaty that redefined power-sharing as the 15-member bloc prepares to take in new member countries, possibly as many as 12 more, mostly in eastern Europe, beginning in 2004.
Ratification of the treaty by the parliaments of the EU countries "will continue on the basis of this text and in accordance with the agreed timetable," the ministers said.
Ireland was the only EU member to subject the treaty to a referendum. The other states planned to ratify it in parliament.
Its 14 partners said they were ready in every way possible to help Dublin find a way forward, taking into account the concerns reflected by the result of the vote, without reopening the treaty.
Speaking to journalists, Mr Cowen said the Government needed "to analyze and distill" the referendum results, and that it was too early to say when another vote - required under the Constitution - could be held.
But he insisted that Irish ratification would come in time for the European Union to complete by the end of 2002 the institutional reforms that are spelled out in the Nice treaty.
His reassurances will be welcomed by prospective members. Poland’s prime minister Mr Jerzy Buzek, warned that any delay could cause massive problems.
"Each year of delay makes the situation very difficult, both for the public and the politicians in Poland," he said after talks in Copenhagen with his Danish counterpart, Mr Poul Nyrup Rasmussen.
"We are ready to join the EU on January 1, 2003. But we should also be prepared for another date. However that will cause problems and more costs if the support of the European Union is delayed," he said.
Mr Rasmussen said it was important that the vote not be seen as a signal against enlargement, and that Denmark, which takes over the EU presidency in July 2002, would do all it could to ensure the first candidates are admitted by January 1, 2003.
European Commission President Mr Romano Prodi, who joined the foreign ministers' deliberations, said the EU enlargement process would proceed "without change" despite the Irish rejection.
"We must pursue negotiations according to the established plan," he said.
"We still hope that certain (candidate) countries will be able to participate in European elections in 2004, which means wrapping up negotiations with these countries by the end of 2002," he added.
"The Treaty of Nice need not necessarily be renegotiated," he said, adding that a second Irish referendum seemed the most probable solution, after the addition of details that would address Irish fears that led to the rejection.
AFP