EU leaders gathered in the Finnish city of Tampere last night for a summit today that is billed as spearheading a new crackdown on crime and heralding the first steps towards a common system of asylum and immigration.
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, said he was confident of a positive outcome on asylum and immigration, but insisted the meeting was "not about Fortress Europe but an EU willing and determined to make the appropriate contribution to address regional problems". Leaders are also likely to give a broad welcome tonight to the Commission's proposals to invite six more states to join accession negotiations from January.
They are likely to be less happy, however, with leaked reports on the ambitious contents of a report for the latter on treaty changes for the forthcoming Inter-Governmental Conference from a group of "wise men" led by the former Belgian prime minister, Mr JeanLuc Dehaene.
The report, which was commissioned by the President of the Commission, Mr Romano Prodi, backs his radical federalising ideas on easing future treaty reform by distinguishing between core constitutional issues and others, with only the former requiring unanimity from member-states.
With the majority of memberstates extremely nervous about extending the scope for majority voting on policy matters, let alone treaty changes, and committed to a very limited IGC, Mr Prodi faces an uphill battle on the issue.
That reality had led to the postponement of the publication of the report until after the summit, but leaders may now find the opportunity of firing a shot across Mr Prodi's bows at the informal dinner tonight too much to resist.
Sources say that the report, which has yet even to go to the Commission, also recommends the completion of an IGC by the end of next year's French presidency. It accepts the necessity for reducing to one the number of commissioners per country but suggests strengthening the hand of the President of the Commission in structuring his Commission.
The report is understood also to seek to extend the right of the Commission to represent the EU externally to such areas as the single currency and trade policy.
More controversially for Ireland is the wish to strengthen the treaty's defence dimension, notably the suggestion to incorporate the Western European Union's mutual defence guarantee into the treaty, albeit on a voluntary basis, so that neutrals could opt out.
The Finnish EU Presidency last night expressed confidence that because of the new treaty powers from Amsterdam the summit will be able to go beyond merely expressing a new wish-list of areas of future co-operation and take some hard decisions.
The Finnish Secretary of State for Justice, Mr Antti Peltomaki, said their pre-summit soundings indicated strong support for specific action on money-laundering, and a willingness to move towards an approximation of national legislation on trafficking in children and migrants.
The agenda is divided broadly into three themes, seen as components in establishing a common area of "freedom, justice and security": the idea of a common asylum and immigration system; co-operation in the fight against cross-border crime; and judicial co-operation.
On immigration and asylum there will be an agreement on the need to agree common definitions of and minimum standards and rights for refugees throughout the EU as well as new approaches to source countries.
