The battle to retain our European Commissioner starts next weekend. Not David Byrne in particular, but our place at the Commission table with the 19 others who run Europe. Our full voting rights at that forum have been of incalculable benefit to us over the years and now, as the 15 memberstates are set to increase to 21 and then 27, there is a move to remove the small nations from the Commission table to make the decision-making process more efficient.
The Helsinki summit next Friday and Saturday will almost certainly decide to set up another InterGovernmental Conference such as the one that produced the Treaty of Amsterdam in 1998. It will start with the Portuguese presidency next month and finish during the French term which starts on July 1st. Ireland, in the persons of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Minister David Andrews will fight tooth and nail to maintain our full Commissioner.
At the summit, the 15 nations will discuss reform and the IGC's three pressing issues. First, is the question of commissioners. It is felt that 27-plus commissioners would be too unwieldy. The five big nations may drop their second commissioner if the smaller ones agree to a rotation system; but we won't. Second, the smaller countries have extra voting weight at the Council of Ministers, but now with the prospect of the big nations being swamped there is a move to change that structure. We will fight that too, but we may trade Council voting for keeping a full commissioner. The third item for the IGC will be replacing the veto, by which a country can block an agreement, with majority voting. We are more or less in favour of that.