The Treaty of Nice was essential to EU enlargement, the French Minister for European Affairs has told the Forum on Europe in Dublin Castle.
Mr Pierre Moscovici said it was up to the Government to interpret the referendum result but Ireland's EU partners were prepared "to examine ways in which we could work together to overcome the difficulty we all face".
He rejected the notion of inserting the content of Nice into the accession treaties for individual candidate countries which would cause serious legal difficulties. Furthermore, it would put the governments of member-states who have already ratified the Treaty of Nice into a delicate position vis-α-vis their parliaments.
Turning to the debate on the future of Europe, Mr Moscovici said France believed a federation of nation states was the most appropriate formula. "This would allow ambitious reforms to be carried out in each of the three components of the institutional triangle - namely the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission - aimed notably at enhancing their democratic legitimacy, while respecting the balance on which the community method is founded.
"This federation of nation states should go hand in hand with a drive to enshrine European values, by giving the treaties constitutional status. This prospect seems now to be clearly established. In that way, our union will become a political Europe," he said.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, told the forum the EU faced no greater challenge than the current round of enlargement. Up to 10 new members were likely to join in 2004.
"It is essential that we ratify the Treaty of Nice to allow enlargement to take place." Virtually nobody wished to block enlargement, he said. In the EU, Ireland shared its sovereignty when it was in its interest to do so. Sharing sovereignty had worked in the economic area, for example.
Since the recent container tragedy, everybody in Ireland was calling for a European solution.
Dr Diarmuid Rossa Phelan, lecturer in law at Trinity College Dublin, said the suggestion that enlargement could take place outside of unanimous agreement of the member-states was "constitutionally problematical".
As a lawyer, he regarded the lack of Irish control over what went on in Europe as "a matter of grave constitutional concern". The Oireachtas had "de facto abdicated" its legislative responsibility in this respect, apart from electing the Government. Refusing to accept the referendum result meant that the Executive was breaking the "bargain of democracy". The means of democracy were being sacrificed for the ends of a treaty.
Prof Brigid Laffan of University College Dublin said enlargement was intrinsic to European integration because it was a union which was willing to open its doors to others. Europe faced the "daunting but exciting" prospect of separated countries rejoining on a voluntary basis, she said. Negotiations with candidate countries needed to conclude by the end of next year or early 2003. It was imperative to have a legal framework for enlargement.
