The Minister for Justice has insisted that his views on Europe are representative of those of the Government as a whole and he has denied any tension over EU policy with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
Mr McDowell claimed that his cautious approach to further European integration was shared by most people in Ireland and throughout the EU.
"The great majority of people in Europe do not share the federalist view. They believe in a Europe of nation states that pool sovereignty in some areas and not in others. It's not negative to articulate the views of the great majority of Europeans," he said.
Speaking in Brussels after a meeting of EU justice ministers, Mr McDowell dismissed a suggestion by the former Fine Gael leader, Mr John Bruton, that the Minister's interventions on Europe were creating difficulties for the Government.
"There has been an effort to suggest that my views are at variance with those of the Government as a whole. That is not true," he said.
Mr McDowell denied that his recent statements on the Convention on the Future of Europe had created problems with Mr Cowen. "I have not rubbed the Minister for Foreign Affairs up the wrong way. There is no difference of opinion between me and other Government Ministers," he said.
Mr McDowell expressed scepticism about a proposal to be discussed at the Convention today that EU countries should commit themselves to helping one another in the event of a terrorist attack. He said it was necessary to establish what the proposal would mean in practice before making a judgment on it.
The Minister of State for Europe, Mr Roche, sounded a more positive note, saying the Government understood the importance being given to the issue.
"The days when the world was dominated by two hostile power blocs trapped in an embrace of assured mutual self-destruction are over.
"Threats to international peace and stability are now more varied and asymmetrical. Terrorist organisations and rogue states bent on the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction now pose significant risks to all of us," he said.
Mr Roche expressed concern about a proposal to introduce a mutual defence clause into the next EU treaty and he stressed that Ireland's policy of military neutrality would not be compromised.
The Minister recalled that, following this year's referendum on the Nice Treaty, Ireland is constitutionally forbidden from entering an EU common defence arrangement without the explicit approval of the Irish people in a further referendum.
