EU considers next step after Irish reject treaty
By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press
Jun 16, 2008 10:01 AM CDT

Three days after Irish voters rejected a treaty seeking major reforms to the European Union, the bloc's 27 members on Monday began the search for an exit from yet another crisis of confidence over European integration.

Voters in Ireland _ the only EU nation to put the treaty to a referendum _ voted "no" last week to the document seeking to streamline EU decision-making, which needs ratification from all 27 members before it can go into effect.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said the "no" vote has created "an uncertain situation" but must be respected.

"It is the democratic decision of the Irish people," he told reporters as he arrived for an EU foreign ministers' meeting.

He cautioned against a quick-fix solution to save treaty. "It is too early, in my view, to start coming up with solutions."

The treaty seeks to significantly reform EU powers, decision-making and institutions to cope with the bloc's expansion since 2004 from 15 members to 27 countries with 495 million citizens. It replaces a proposed EU constitution that Dutch and French voters rejected in 2005.

The Irish rejection of this treaty, signed in Lisbon last year by all 27 EU leaders, has shaken EU capitals, eroding confidence in whether the bloc is ready for a role on the world stage commensurate with its economic clout.

It's the second time Ireland has rejected a revision of the EU's founding treaty of 1957. In a 2001 referendum, Irish voters said "no" to the Treaty of Nice, forcing a revote in 2002 that approved the treaty after Dublin haggled for an appendix that emphasized Ireland's military neutrality.

At the EU meeting, a consensus emerged to give Ireland room to divine a way out of the stalemate.

"There will be no bulldozing of the Irish government and the Irish people," said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, adding that Europe faces an important test of whether or not it can tackle issues such as high food and fuel prices and the economy while giving Ireland room to decide on its next step.

The treaty already has been endorsed in legislative votes in 18 EU nations. The parliaments of eight nations _ Belgium, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Cyprus, Sweden and Britain _ have not voted on the treaty.

Ratification must move ahead, ministers said Monday. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said there was "only one alternative: to continue the ratification process. This is not a simple situation. ... We have to find a way out together with Ireland."

He said there was no point in setting a deadline for a solution to the impasse.

"We will not leave a friend behind," said Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign minister. "I am sure we will find a solution ... the (EU) treaty is not dead."

The Irish "no" opens several scenarios for debate, including a two-speed EU with the most integration-minded nations forging ahead for now. This option has already led countries including Britain, Denmark, Ireland and others to opt out of projects they find too ambitious, such as common EU immigration and asylum policies and the euro, the currency used by 15 EU nations.

The Lisbon treaty would increase powers for the European Commission president and foreign policy chief, prune the commission from 27 to 18 members, and trim the policy areas where a holdout nation can block a decision.

In 2005, voters in France and the Netherlands, concerned about a lack of EU accountability, rejected the draft EU constitution in national referendums. The defeat of that charter led EU governments to tone down the document, resulting in the Lisbon treaty.