The President of the European Commission has warned national governments they are undermining public confidence in the EU by blaming Brussels for unpopular decisions.
But he acknowledged that European institutions are too remote and must change how they function before any further changes to EU treaties.
In an article in The Irish Times and other European newspapers today, Mr Romano Prodi complains that member-state governments are using Brussels as a scapegoat for decisions they agreed to.
"If we continue to depict Brussels as a remote entity, imposing unpopular decisions on the governments and peoples of Europe, we need hardly be surprised when our citizens express a lack of interest, mistrust and even outright rejection," he writes.
The Commission will today adopt a White Paper on Governance aimed at making the EU more accessible to citizens and streamlining how the Commission works. Commission officials stress that this is not a direct response to Ireland's rejection of the Nice Treaty. But it acknowledges that the referendum highlighted problems that had been present for some time.
"The Irish No showed how alienated many people are. This was reflected not only in the final outcome of the referendum, but also in the low turnout and quality of the debate which preceded it," the paper says.
It proposes involving representatives of regional and local government at an early stage in devising EU policies - and more flexible implementation to take account of different national and local conditions.
