ENDA KENNY is this morning travelling to Brussels for a pair of economic summits with other EU heads of government.
The European Council meeting will discuss economic policy, where leaders will discuss a series of reform and stability programmes, as well as the potential accession of Serbia to the EU.
They will also discuss the potential enlargement of the Schengen common travel area, and the EU’s priorities for forthcoming G8 and G20 summits as well as its stance on the situation in Syria.
The summit will be preceded by a ‘tripartite social summit’ which will discuss the role of social dialogue as a way of helping to encourage job creation.
The events are likely to be overshadowed by the news of Ireland’s referendum on the fiscal compact deal, however, with that treaty to be signed on Friday morning by 25 of the 27 leaders – with only the UK and the Czech Republic opting out of the deal.
The summit is the first meeting since the attorney-general told the cabinet on Tuesday that the public would need to ratify the deal, because the treaty – which is not itself a European Union treaty – did fall within the structures which already form part of the constitution.
Kenny’s signature is the first step of Irish accession to the treaty, though ratification obviously cannot be finalised without a Yes vote in the referendum, which is likely to be held in May or June.
The meeting will also mark the election of a new permanent President of the European Council, with Herman van Rompuy’s term of office formally ending in May.
It is widely assumed that Van Rompuy will be elected for a second 30-month term, however, keeping the role until late 2014.
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