Fine Gael's decision not to participate in the Government's proposed Forum on Europe may be understandable in terms of parliamentary politics, as a general election approaches. But it could also be seen as dangerously opportunistic. It may jeopardise the debate necessitated by rejection of the Nice Treaty in June's referendum and by the fast-unfolding agenda on the future of European integration. It should be possible to agree on a compromise formula that would meet Fine Gael's desire for a cut and dried inter-party agreement on Nice as well as setting up a broader framework to discuss the EU's future.
In his letter to the Taoiseach, the Fine Gael leader, Mr Noonan, raises "a fundamental concern" about consensus approaches towards major political issues such as Europe, which would not "best serve the interests of democracy". He says the Government's divisions on Europe would be masked by transferring the issue to a three-year "talking shop that won't reach a conclusion". They are better debated and decided in the Government itself, by parties in the Oireachtas, and by the citizens at large, where political accountability applies more clearly and visibly, he says.
All this would be more convincing if the Dβil and Senate did indeed behave as Mr Noonan suggests they ought to do. But on Nice and the future of Europe there is precious little evidence they have done so - and Mr Noonan knows it. In fact one of the principal problems about the Nice referendum was the parliamentary consensus in favour. This proved signally counter-productive when it came to convincing a majority of the electorate to vote at all, much less to vote in favour of the treaty. Therein lies the case for supplementing political debate with a new forum more capable of representing the extra-parliamentary movements that actually won the Nice referendum. It would also explore with them how best the new Europe should be shaped.
It is unrealistic to separate these two issues as Mr Noonan proposes. The debate on the future of Europe, agreed at Nice, has not been frozen just be cause the treaty was rejected. Indeed, many of the concerns about the treaty, thus expressed, are held in common by citizens elsewhere in the EU who will not have an opportunity to vote on it. They include alienation of voters from both European and national in situations dealing with integration and how to tackle that, which is usefully addressed in the European Commission's White Paper on the reform of governance, published this week. Suggestions there about linking the various levels of government and communicating politically through networks, are highly relevant to the debate that will be defined by an EU summit at Laeken in Belgium next December.
Ireland has an opportunity to influence this de- bate constructively by framing its own discussion on Nice. That requires speedy and decisive action if the autumn months are not to be wasted in political bickering. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and Mr Noonan must resolve this matter urgently between them.