Ireland has until October to decide on EU treaty

Irish voters threw the European Union into crisis in June by voting no in a referendum on the controversial treaty, which is aimed at streamlining Brussels institutions.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency and is due in Dublin on Monday, said this week the Irish "have to re-vote" on the issue.

Questioned at a press conference, commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said Ireland should be "allowed to analyze and reflect" in order to "tell us what they must do" at the EU’s next summit in October.

"It’s up to them to take a decision," she told a Forum Europa conference in Spain, particularly on whether they should "vote again", she said.

Ferrero-Waldner also welcomed the "success" of last weekend’s summit in Paris to launch a "Union for the Mediterranean" which according to her had given a new momentum to the 13-year-old Barcelona Process, which ties together countries around the Mediterranean rim.

She also hinted that Barcelona, the capital of Spain’s Catalan region, would make an "excellent candidate" to host the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean, although there were also candidacies from Morocco, Tunisia, Malta and Marseille.

A decision -- which must be unanimous -- on the issue is to be taken at a ministerial meeting in November in Marseille, she pointed out.

Ferrero-Waldner underlined that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued to cast a "shadow" over both the Barcelona process and the planned Union for the Mediterranean.

She also described Turkey, a candidate country for EU membership, as having "lots to do" to meet the entry-rules for joining.

Photo: AP