Irish Republic rejects EU treaty

Ahern said earlier a second referendum could be held

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Irish Republic voters have rejected a key European Union treaty on enlargement, officials said.

The Nice Treaty, negotiated last December in the French city of Nice, was designed to reshape the 15-nation trading bloc before it admits as many as a dozen new members in the next few years.

A returning officer told reporters that of 982,939 ballots cast, 529,478 voted to reject the treaty -- a majority of 76,017.

Low turnout across Ireland was considered a major factor in the referendum's defeat.

Before the vote, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said his government would stage another referendum later if this one was rejected.

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The Treaty of Nice is a rewrite of the bloc's charter and must be ratified in all EU countries by the end of 2002.

Ireland was the only one required to hold a public referendum before putting the treaty to a parliamentary vote.

Diplomats in Brussels said the EU's enlargement plans would remain broadly on track despite the Irish rejection.

"Such a referendum in one country cannot ... block the biggest and most important project for the political and economic future of the united Europe," Guenter Verheugen, the EU's Enlargement Commissioner, told reporters during a trip to Slovenia, which is a candidate for early membership.

The treaty overhauls the institutions of the EU in preparation for the eventual entry of up to a dozen new members, mostly from eastern Europe.

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It sets a 2004 deadline for wrapping up the next round of reform talks that include distribution of power among small and large countries, old and new members, and between national governments and a central authority.

The treaty also addresses the EU's plan to form a rapid reaction force of 60,000 soldiers for peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. Ireland would contribute 850 soldiers.

One of the leading "no" campaigners, Patricia McKenna of the Irish Green Party, said the vote reflected concerns about lack of democracy in EU structures and institutions.

"Ireland is the first country to be asked its opinion (of the treaty)," McKenna, a member of the European Parliament, told Associated Press news agency.

"If that's an indication of how Europe feels ... then all the member states' governments must renegotiate. It's back to the drawing board."

Every major political party in Ireland supported the treaty but had a lacklustre campaign to promote it.

However, the "no" campaigners plastered Dublin with posters warning that Ireland risked being bossed around by larger European states, having to subsidise poorer applicant states, and having its tiny military forced to take part in peacekeeping operations.

Pat Cox, an Irish Liberal Democrat deputy in the European Parliament, said the "no" vote was not aimed specifically against enlargement, noting strong Irish support for the process.

"It is important to reassure candidate states that this was not a No vote to their entry into the EU... This Irish vote reflects a rather mixed and complex set of motives, none of which sought to reject enlargement," Cox said.

Plans to remove references to the death penalty from the country's written constitution and to ratify the International Criminal Court were also confirmed on Friday in a separate referendum.

The death penalty issue was approved by 62% of the electorate and the court was backed by 64%.