Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-07-03-Speech-2-030"
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"en.20010703.1.2-030"2
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"Mr President, I would like to congratulate the Swedish presidency on its success and also express my regret that the Irish referendum result overshadowed many of their achievements, particularly in the field of enlargement.
The European Council in Göteborg was generous in response to our predicament and I welcome its willingness to help the Irish Government find a way forward. I regret that it is not going to be easy. With a little more effort by the political establishment in Ireland, a 'yes' vote could easily have been obtained but now that the referendum has taken place, many people, including supporters of the Nice Treaty, will be reluctant to overturn it. It also must be said that the recent remarks of Mr Prodi in the Irish media to the effect that enlargement can proceed even if Nice is not ratified, unfortunately adds to the confusion.
However, my major concern arises because of the existence of a strong eurosceptic core at the heart of the Irish government. While the Taoiseach was speaking to our European partners inside the Council in an attempt to repair the damage inflicted on our reputation, his finance minister, Charlie McCreevy, was outside describing the Irish rejection of the Nice Treaty as a remarkable and healthy development.
I wish to take the opportunity of warning the Council and the Commission to be careful, as Mr McCreevy's continued eurosceptic approach could well be an indication of his intention to provoke another row with the EU over Ireland's budgetary policy in the run-up to a possible autumn Irish general election. I hope that the ratification of the Nice Treaty proceeds successfully, and that when we revisit the issue in Ireland, we will have a different result."@en1
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