EU leaders bid to salvage treaty

Ireland's PM Bertie Ahern said a second referendum will be held

LUXEMBOURG -- European Union foreign ministers are attempting to salvage expansion plans following Ireland's rejection in a referendum last week.

The ministers are meeting in Luxembourg to discuss the Irish "no" vote even though the issue is not on the formal agenda of their talks.

Ireland rejected the blueprint for bringing Poland, Hungary and other eastern nations into the EU ahead of a key summit meeting due to begin in Gothenberg, Sweden, on Thursday.

The Swedish hosts were hoping to push forward the expansion by setting a clear target date for the entry of front-runners from the post-communist east that hope to join by 2004.

REFERENCE   •  Analysis: Wider lessons   •  What was decided   •  Jargon glossary   •  New vote weights   •  EU enlargement map   •  History of EU growth   •  What kind of Europe?   •  France's EU presidency   •  In-depth: Changing face of Europe

However the citizens of Ireland tore up the script with their referendum vote last week against the Treaty of Nice.

The treaty was put together after tortuous negotiations last December in the French Riviera resort to overhaul the EU's rule book so it can accommodate the 12 prospective new members.

All 15 EU nations have to ratify the treaty before it can take effect, but only one in three Irish voters turned out for the vote and 54 percent said no to the treaty.

Now the pro-Nice government in Dublin hopes to turn public opinion around ahead of a referendum replay.

IN-DEPTH   •  Embarking on expansion   •  EU enlargement map   •  History of EU growth   •  Nice: Europe's next steps   •  What kind of Europe?   •  Key leaders' views

Arriving to chair Monday's meeting Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh insisted the membership negotiations would continue as normal.

"Enlargement will continue as before," she said. "There will be no change."

The Irish referendum vote stunned the 15-nation block and raised the prospect of a constitutional crisis in the EU.

Only Ireland is required by its constitution to put the treaty to a popular vote, the others ratifying it by parliamentary vote. EU diplomats hope Ireland will hold a second referendum later this year.

Asked if the Irish vote might hamper efforts to set up the EU rapid reaction force, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "We'll have to see. I don't think so."

Solana was also due to brief foreign ministers on his weekend trips to both Macedonia, where government forces are battling an ethnic Albanian insurgency, and to Israel, where he is supporting international efforts to maintain a fragile ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Minister for International Cooperation Nabil Shaath were both in Luxembourg for separate talks with the EU ministers.