Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen addressed the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy on 20 January 2004, on the current state of play regarding the IGC.
He announced that EU Foreign Ministers will continue the negotiations on the Constitutional text on 29 January, in the form of an initial informal discussion over lunch at next Monday’s meeting of the General Affairs and External Relations Council.
The European Council gave the Irish Presidency a mandate to consult with partners and to present a report to the Spring European Council, which will be held on March 25th and 26th. The Irish presidency has already sustained several meetings with heads of government and state in order to collect their positions.
However, there has not been much political will to reach common positions. A series of meetings recently involving France, Germany and Poland - the main contributors to the breakdown of the talks - have ended in failure.
The crucial issue of vote weighting, which will determine the balance of power in a future EU, remains the sticking point.
Irish presidency addresses European Parliament Constitutional Affairs Committee: speech by Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen.
