EUROPEAN leaders have handed Ireland "quite an impressive list of things they do not agree about" to be dealt with during Ireland's EU Presidency, according to Mr Bruton.
The Taoiseach told reporters at the conclusion of the Florence Summit that Ireland had agreed to a request from several member states to hold two summit meetings during the six month term, rather than the usual one. This is mainly due to the heavy volume of work facing the Intergovernmental Conference of the union, which is attempting to agree changes to the EU treaties.
The Irish Presidency also faces a lengthy agenda of other business, including the finalisation of preparations for Economic and Monetary Union and drawing up detailed reports on unemployment and drugs.
Asked about the mandate given to Ireland by the Florence meeting he said: "The mandate was more a list of problems than potentially agreed solutions".
while I appreciate the confidence shown in us by giving us this task, I'm not going to guarantee that we will complete it. There are some profound differences of opinion.
EU member states are deeply divided on many reforms proposed in advance of the admission of central and east European states.
These include proposals to extend the range of issues which can be decided by majority voting, increase the powers of the European Parliament, make the common foreign and security policy more effective, and insert a commitment to increasing employment into the treaties.
The extra EU summit meeting during the Irish Presidency will take place "in Dublin or somewhere within a short distance of Dublin", said Mr Bruton. The necessity to accommodate so many journalists dictated that there was no other suitable venue, he said.
He wanted to lower expectations of what would be achieved at the October Summit. The main political business of the Irish Presidency will be concluded at the December Dublin Castle Summit.
"The October Summit may not have decisions or even a communique. It may be a political discussion on the medium term problems." They might "discuss things in a general way rather than on a formal basis."
Mr Bruton said that the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Romano Prodi, and his predecessor, Mr Lamberto Dini, had shown "great skill in defusing what could have been a major crisis for the EU over BSE. The fact that it was resolved without any `high noon' atmosphere was a tribute to the Italians."
He welcomed the agreement of an extra package of compensation for farmers affected by the BSE crisis. This would be worth some £70 million to Ireland.
The resolution of the crisis had shown that "obstructionism doesn't work, it doesn't achieve any more than might be achieved otherwise. It is important to learn from this experience that this approach doesn't work and will not work in the future."
He also welcomed the progress on establishing Europol.
"The Irish Government has indicated that one of the priorities for the Presidency is combatting crime and drug addiction at every level. One of the important conditions of that was the establishment of Europol, and that's now being done."
He was happy with the reception given to the pro employment `confidence pact' proposed by the Commission President, Mr Jacques Santer. He hoped that during the Irish Presidency an impetus would develop to bring agreement on the funding of trans European transport and communications networks, and on support for small and medium sized enterprises.
At dinner on Saturday night the heads of state and government had a long discussion on the development of relations between the EU and Russia after the Russian presidential election. "The discussion indicated a fundamental optimism about the position in Russia and a belief that progress towards reform in economic terms will happen and that pessimism isn't justified."
. Mr Bruton visits Malta today for discussions on the island's application for EU membership.