Addressing a conference organised by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) on 24 June in Brussels, French Secretary of State for European Affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet said the aim of President Sarkozy's forthcoming visit to Ireland – announced at the European Summit on 20 June – was to assess the situation in that country following the failed referendum on the EU's flagship Lisbon Treaty.
"What will they wish for?," Jouyet asked. He listed the possible guarantees the Irish might like to have added to the treaty – on their neutrality, on religious values and abortion and on guarantees to maintain their prosperity or on particular aid for certain professions.
"We have to see and analyse what the consequences of the demands by Ireland will be concerning the question of reopening or not reopening the treaty," he said.
"As you know, there is a very significant majority of countries, and this is a polite formula I'm using, who do not wish to see the Treaty reopened," the state secretary added.
EU countries generally fear a Pandora's box effect if the Lisbon Treaty has to be reopened. And EU leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, were almost unanimous in saying there will be no other treaty to replace Lisbon (EurActiv 20/06/08).
But polls in Ireland have shown that 'no' voters hope for a renegotiation of the text (EurActiv 20/06/08). In fact, most of the well-known concerns of Irish voters have no relation whatsoever with the treaty.
A train off track
Jouyet acknowledged that, with the Irish referendum, "the train had been thrown off the track" and the process of consolidation of Europe had been undermined. He nevertheless called for the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, saying if Europe wants to influence world affairs, it must agree on certain minimum rules that enable it to act as one politically.
The French state secretary also acknowledged that in the light of the Irish referendum, France would need to amend its six-month EU Presidency programme. According to him, the most affected element will be the re-launch of a "Europe of defence".
Several high-ranking speakers dwelled on the solutions to be found following the Irish referendum. Pierre Ménat, director for European co-operation in the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, felt that the Lisbon Treaty still has a chance of being implemented. But in the meantime, he noted, the EU might need to take difficult decisions, like reducing the number of commissioners, or organising European elections without knowing if the number of MEPs to be elected is 751 according to the Lisbon Treaty or 732 according to the Nice Treaty.
Green light for External Service?
But Ménat also believes several projects contained in the Lisbon Treaty could be carried out even before its ratification. He singled out the European External Action Service (EEAS) as one of these, saying that whatever the problems related to this project (EurActiv 13/05/08), it could be carried out successfully through "discrete talks", especially if the decision is to make the EEAS a new "sui generis" institution, rather than part of the current EU institutions.
Jean-Paul Jacqué, a director general at the Council of the EU, also stated that there is "no need for a legal base for establishing EEAS". He also considered that the position of head of the EU diplomacy can be strengthened even before or without the Lisbon Treaty becoming effective.
Fresh ideas for French presidency
French MEP Alain Lamassoure regretted the Irish 'no', saying without the Lisbon Treaty, Europe would not only be unable to catch up on the ten years it had already lost in terms of meeting the objectives it has set itself, but that it would lose another ten years.
Lamassoure also considered that it is too early to take major decisions on how to deal with the energy crisis, since the high prices of petrol would in fact have a beneficial effect on reducing CO2 emissions, which deserve to be studied more before governments intervene in one way or another.
Like other speakers, Lamassoure considered that the French Presidency needed to adjust its objectives following the referendum. He said an important advance can be expected only in the field of the European Immigration Pact. He also advocated the introduction of a co-ordination of the budgetary policies of the member countries.
A third important issue, in his words, could be to "open a huge building site in the field of European citizenship". The French MEP explained that Europe was twenty years late in making sure that the rights of the European citizen are recognised in other countries.
