The Irish Taoiseach's trip takes in Luxembourg, Berlin, London and Paris after last week's visit to Finland and Sweden.
Speaking in Berlin after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel over dinner yesterday (3 December), Cowen said he was hopeful that "the elements of an acceptable way forward" could be identified at the Brussels summit.
No details emerged from the talks, but observers believe that before agreeing to hold a second vote on the Lisbon Treaty, the authorities in Dublin need reassurances that Ireland will be able to keep a commissioner, and that declarations will be added in the Treaty to ensure that the country's policies on tax, abortion and neutrality remain unaffected.
But EU leaders also need to be reassured that Cowen will actually propose a concrete way forward. In fact, he has already postponed making such a commitment once. Ireland promised at the EU summit of 19-20 June that it would propose a way forward at the 15 October gathering, but this was not forthcoming.
Meanwhile, the Irish Parliament recently cleared the path for a re-run of the failed 12 June Lisbon Treaty referendum (EurActiv 28/11/08).
"No legal obstacle appears to exist to having a referendum either on precisely the same issue as that dealt with on June 12 or some variation thereof," said a report by an Irish parliamentary sub-committee looking at the country's future in the EU.
Now the Irish government needs to announce whether it intends to hold a second referendum, and if so, give a date and decide upon the precise question that Irish voters will be asked to answer. Dublin is under pressure to set out a timetable and process for ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
Although approving the text in Parliament would appear to be a legally viable option, the parliamentary report rejected the possibility of doing so as "politically undesirable". Regarding question to be asked, the report implies that a "variation" may be possible. It has been suggested that the question should include a warning that by rejecting the treaty, Ireland would run the risk of alienating itself from the Union, with potentially serious economic consequences.
A recent poll revealed that the Irish may approve the Lisbon Treaty in a new referendum, provided that a number of safeguards are added to the text (EurActiv 17/11/08).
