The Green Party has described the draft EU constitution published in Brussels today as bad news for Ireland's representative power in Europe and its ability to maintain its neutral status.
"It represents a further shift of power from the small states to the larger states and from the EU Commission to the Council", said the party's foreign affairs spokesman Mr John Gormley.
EU centralisation will mean less accountability and democracy, he continued, adding that despite the "majority of people ... [being] against a president of the EU Council", it appears in the draft articles "because the larger states favour it".
He said the problems expressed by Ireland over representation on the Commission, had not been dealt with and the new draft was a "slimmed down version of the Commission consisting of 14 Commissioners". He said the "partnership of equals has become a thing of the past."
Mr Gormley drew attention to The Solidarity Clause and Article 30.7 of the new draft, introducing closer cooperation on defense and a new European Arms Agency, which he said would have "profound implications" on Irish neutrality.
He said that the Irish initiatives in the Convention had "come to nothing".
An EU convention, headed by Mr Valery Giscard d'Estaing earlier today published the latest draft of a constitution for an enlarged Union, but many key disputed issues remain unresolved just three weeks before the blueprint for the constitution is due to be finished.
Some of the "institutional questions", yet to be approved in the document are the plans to replace the EU's current rotating leadership with a full-time permanent president, and plans to create a new job of EU foreign minister.