Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

The negotiation of the constitutional treaty was one of the Taoiseach's greatest successes. Therefore, the notion that the Government is lukewarm about the reform treaty, a slightly modified version of the constitutional treaty, is complete rubbish.

I have mixed feelings about the respective merits of the constitutional and reform treaties. The constitutional treaty was legible and understandable. On the other hand, it displaced the organic growth of 50 years and omitted some of the clauses on the Common Agricultural Policy. However, there is some merit in the fact that the treaties, as they have been accreting since 1957, are still in place. Once the reform treaty is finally agreed, it is important a White Paper is produced by the Department of Foreign Affairs and a consolidated text presented. Even Members sometimes find it difficult to obtain a text. If a decision must be made on a reform treaty, that treaty must be available in a legible and understandable form.

I cringed when the former President of the Convention on the Future of Europe, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, talked about Philadelphia in such a grandiose manner. The united states of Europe is not the model for the European Union. Rather, the Union is a sui generis method of international co-operation, not an embryonic, massive sovereign state. The tendency among the critics is to play up issues such as there will be a president of the European Council. I am not aware Chancellor Merkel, President Sarkozy or Prime Minister Brown have applied for that job or are likely to do so.

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