The visit to Dublin yesterday by the German Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, urging Ireland to support the Nice Treaty, was overshadowed by controversy elsewhere about the development of a so-called "European superstate".
The German Chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroder's, Social Democrats yesterday published a draft resolution on Europe for consideration at a party conference in November. The 20-page document calls for the Commission to be transformed into "a strong European executive" and for the European Parliament to be given full control of the EU budget.
The party wants to replace the Council of Ministers - where representatives of the member-states currently make the more important decisions in the EU - with a second chamber of parliament similar to Germany's Bundesrat.
Austrian and Danish politicians yesterday joined British Conservatives in condemning the new German proposals. The Austrian Chancellor, Dr Wolfgang Schussel, said Vienna did not want a "European super state", and Denmark's ruling Social Democrats dismissed the proposals as unrealistic.
The new German proposals would go much further than the Treaty of Nice, to be voted on in Ireland in the forthcoming referendum. In Dublin, Mr Fischer strongly urged a Yes vote describing the more modest measures in the Nice Treaty as "a step forward for Europe".
Sharing a platform with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, at the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin, Mr Fischer reiterated some of his controversial personal views on the long-term future of Europe. He raised the possibility of having two chambers in the European Parliament, one representing member-states, the other directly elected by the public.
Mr Fischer's message was echoed by Mr Cowen who accused opponents of the treaty of seeking to block enlargement and frustrate the legitimate aspirations of the candidate countries.
However, Mr Fischer, a member of the German Green Party, was challenged over the implications of the Nice Treaty by two Irish Green TDs, Mr John Gormley and Mr Trevor Sargent, when they raised potential dangers to Irish neutrality.
Mr Fischer said he was not afraid of the militarisation of the EU because it had to play a stronger role in the area of peace and security.
Mr Gormley said that, while he welcomed Mr Fischer's visit, it was important to note that the Irish Greens differed with him on the future direction of the EU. "Mr Fischer supports a EU superstate and a two-tiered Europe. His honesty on this subject is refreshing in contrast markedly with the spin-doctoring of Minister Brian Cowen and the Irish Government. We will be advising Irish people to vote against signing up to the Nice Treaty."
The full text of Mr Fischer's speech in Dublin yesterday is available on The Irish Times website at: www.ireland.com