Ahern: Nice rejection shows EU is out of touch

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Berie Ahern, Ireland's Prime Minister, warned fellow European heads yesterday that the EU is becoming dangerously out of touch with the public as its leaders grappled with the crisis caused by the Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty.

In a surprise change of tack, Mr Ahern delivered a blunt message that the EU must address its growing remoteness from its 375 million people if setbacks such as the Irish referendum are to be reversed.

He told the summit of EU leaders in Gothenburg: "There is unfortunately a widespread sense of disconnection between the institutions of the union and its citizens. There is frustration at what is sometimes seen as an absence of clarity, openness and responsiveness in how the union goes about its business."

Mr Ahern added: "There is a real and urgent need to focus on how we can make the union more meaningful to our citizens and on how its democratic accountability can be strengthened." He insisted the "no" vote was not a rejection of the plans for enlargement of the EU, to include up to 12 new members, which were spelled out in the treaty agreed by EU leaders in Nice last December.

At yesterday's summit, EU leaders pledged not to allow the setback in Ireland to derail their plans for expansion of the 15-member bloc into central and eastern Europe. However, France and Germany made it clear that they will not bow to pressure from Sweden and Britain for a firm date for the start of enlargement.

Anna Lindh, the Swedish foreign minister, said: "We have a clear commitment to the enlargement process and to the road map for enlargement, which some initially had said was unrealistic." Wim Kok, the Dutch Prime Minister, said: "We should declare our will to close the negotiations with the most advanced candidates in 2002 and thereby encourage them to hasten reforms."

Sweden and the Netherlands have sent a positive signal to the applicants by pledging not to apply "transition periods" allowing existing EU countries to bar workers from new eastern European states for several years after their countries join.

Tony Blair backed moves to go beyond the existing timetable for expansion agreed in Nice in order to reassure potential new members. He said: "There is huge acceptance around Europe of the need to enlarge. Even many of the people who voted 'no' in the Irish referendum said they were in favour of the enlargement."

Mr Ahern said that Belgium, which takes over the EU presidency next month and plans a declaration on the future of Europe at its December summit, may be able to smooth the path for a reversal of the referendum result. "There is an urgent need to focus on how we can make the union more meaningful to our citizens", he said.

The Irish premier pointed to worries over his country's neutrality and to wider concerns over the democratic accountability of the EU, as two areas which need to be addressed.

One possibility is that the Irish will wait until most other EU member states have ratified the Nice Treaty before putting it to a second referendum. That would allow them to campaign on the basis that only the Irish are holding up the entire expansion process.

But a diplomat quoted Wolfgang Schüssel, the Austrian Chancellor, as saying: "The EU should not proceed too fast. Nice has not yet been ratified and we are already talking about new goals." His comment, echoed by Jose Maria Aznar, the Spanish Prime Minister, seemed to be aimed at Germany, which has led the debate about enlargement.