EUROPEAN COUNCIL president Herman Van Rompuy has suggested to EU leaders that he may call them to an emergency summit in Brussels on the night of Ireland’s referendum.
European sources said May 31st was one of the dates under examination for an informal leaders’ dinner at which they would discuss the debt crisis in the euro zone.
A meeting on that date would come before the outcome of the referendum is known.
A European source said it would be open to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to say that night was not suitable if he wished.
The meeting is expected to take place around that date. The likelihood of an unscheduled summit comes amid anxiety about Spain’s rising borrowing costs and concern that recession in the euro zone may be worsening.
It also comes against the backdrop of an increasing clamour for new policies to stimulate growth in the European economy. Under discussion at the moment is a plan to boost the capital of the European Investment Bank to increase investment in infrastructure and other big-ticket projects.
The possibility of a summit before the Irish referendum count suggests Mr Van Rompuy and his team are relatively relaxed about the vote.
European sources acknowledge that one of the top items for discussion may be a “supplement” to the treaty itself.
Certain observers in Brussels believe French socialist candidate François Hollande is poised to oust incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the run-off of the presidential election next Sunday. If that happens Mr Hollande would be expected to take his demand to change the treaty directly to the summit table.
Although Mr Hollande has repeatedly declared that he wants to reopen the treaty and move it towards economic growth, the expectation in European circles is that he will simply push for some form of a supplement to the existing agreement without changing the settled text.
In recent days Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has suggested that any such change would be unlikely to present constitutional issues for Ireland.
EU leaders have not met since their second summit this year in March. Their next scheduled summit is at the end of June.
