EU/Lisbon treaty

Foreign ministers ponder what to do about Irish rejection

Article published on the 2008-06-16 Latest update 2008-06-17 09:13 TU

Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin (R) with France's Bernard Kouchner
(Photo: Reuters)

Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty has left European leaders scratching their heads. Do they scrap the treaty completely? Do they exclude Ireland? Do they continue with the ratification process or not?  “We are in an uncertain situation,” said Michael Martin, the Irish Foreign Minister, at a meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday. “We are in uncharted waters.”

“It is far too early in our view to start coming up with solutions,” Martin told journalists. “The first step… will be to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the underlying issues behind the vote and also in terms of where we see it going forward in terms of our relationship with the Union.”

All 27 member states must ratify the treaty before it comes into effect. The treaty would streamline the way the European Union is run. Ireland is the first to reject it so far. Eight countries are left, including the UK, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Philippe Herzog, an analyst at the Paris-based thinktank Confrontations Europe, told RFI that Europe needs to continue with the ratification process.

“We need to know what the states that have not ratified it think of it,” he said. “It would be cowardly not to proceed… because you can’t draw good lessons without knowing the countries’ positions.”

Most European leaders agree, though the Slovenian Foreign Minister shed doubt on Monday.

“It would be risky to say we are going to bring the treaty back to life when we are facing a blockade,” he said.

Over the weekend  German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier brought up the idea of leaving Ireland behind.

“Ireland could temporarily clear the way for the integration of the other 26 members,” he said.

On Monday German Foreign Ministry official Martin Jaeger played down those comments but raised the possibility of Ireland opting out of some EU decisions.

“[T]here could be… scenarios where, for example, a member state under certain circumstances, says, ‘I am refraining from taking part in certain decision-making processes',” he told a news conference.

In France officials deny that the rejection will affect the French presidency of the EU, which comes into effect on 1 July.

Dominique Paille, a spokesperson for the ruling UMP party. insisted that the country “will be working not within the new treaty, but within the one that is in effect today.”

What to do will top the agenda at the EU summit meeting in Brussels this Thursday and Friday.

“We will solve the problem” said Javier Solana, the head of EU foreign policy, adding, “I don’t know how we’ll solve it practically.”