EU:Some of the "grandiose" ideas contained in the original European Union Constitution will be dropped to get a deal that will not need referendums in most member states, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said last night.
Speaking after the first round of contacts at the European Council meeting in Brussels, Mr Ahern acknowledged that the 2004 text rejected by French and Dutch voters had left some Irish voters "a little concerned".
However, he said it was "highly likely" that Ireland would have to have a referendum on the outcome of the Brussels talks, though the advice of Attorney General Paul Gallagher would have to be taken.
"That is something that we will have to articulate to our colleagues around the table," Mr Ahern told The Irish Timeslast night before he attended a dinner with fellow EU colleagues.
Most member states, said newly-appointed Minister for Europe Dick Roche, are "allergic" to the idea of a referendum and anxious to ensure that a deal does not force them to hold them.
Irish voters, said Minister Ahern, had been "a little concerned" by the tenor of the constitution, which will create a European foreign minister, establish a formal official anthem, and greater majority voting.
"I mean we have a Constitution. Our people would not in any way want to think that what we decide as a nation would be overruled. The whole grandiose idea of a European 'Constitution' is one of the reasons why some of the trappings have gone out of this," he said.
Under the changes likely to be accepted by EU leaders before Saturday, plans to have an EU flag, anthem and constitution text will be scrapped, while problems remain on powers to be enjoyed by an EU foreign minister.
Mr Ahern queried British objections to the new office, which would be held by someone holding senior positions in the commission and European Council at the same time. "They agreed to this in 2004," he said.
Reaching a deal that can be signed by all 27 member states will be difficult, since 18 states have already ratified the constitution and to do not want changes made at all.
However, the French and the Dutch must be given enough concessions to justify a decision not to present the deal before their electorates again. This would enable them to simply ratify it by through parliamentary vote.
Asked if politicians were not being dishonest in their efforts to avoid referendums wherever possible, Mr Ahern said: "I would not say that it was dishonest. I would say that it was reacting a little bit more to the views of ordinary people."
