Brown defiant at Irish EU announcement

Gordon Brown was under pressure to perform a U-turn over Europe and grant a referendum on the proposed EU treaty last night, after Ireland said it would call a national vote.

The move by Dublin - which said 90 per cent of the rejected EU constitution had been revived in the treaty - raised questions about whether Mr Brown can resist Tory calls to put it to the British people.

Speaking on BBC1's Politics Show yesterday, the new Labour leader said Tony Blair had prevented substantial loss of sovereignty and therefore a vote of the British people would not be needed.

"On that basis, like every other treaty that has been negotiated - Nice, Amsterdam, Maastricht - while many other people will call for a referendum, it seems to me that we have met our negotiating position," he said.

"People, when they look at the small print, will see that we did what we set out to do, and that was to make sure that in these areas we were properly protected as a country to make our own decisions when we want to do so."

However, the Conservatives seized on the decision by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to call a vote as evidence that sovereignty had been transferred.

A spokesman for the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said that although some constitutional elements had gone, "90 per cent of what was in the previous treaty is still there, so Ireland is happy".

Ireland's constitutional arrangements make it difficult not to call a referendum on a proposed treaty.

In 2001, Irish voters threw the EU into turmoil when they rejected the Nice Treaty. Dublin then called a second poll the following year, in which the vote was reversed.

Denmark has also been considering whether it has to hold a referendum on the latest proposals from Brussels.

Last night William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, said: "As each day goes by, more and more of the Government's case on the EU treaty falls to pieces.

"It is now getting clearer and clearer that this is basically the constitution by another name. Large amounts of power have been transferred to Brussels and the Government has failed to safeguard Britain's interests.

"People in Britain will want to know, when Irish voters will decide for themselves on this crucial treaty, why Gordon Brown thinks British people do not have the right to have their say, even though he promised they would."

The Tories said that the small print of a deal struck in the early hours of Saturday in Brussels would make it far easier for European leaders to abolish national vetoes in future and consolidate ever more power in Brussels.

Under the deal, they said EU leaders would be able to slip through major changes -including the end of vetoes -by resorting to a "less visible" procedure for creating new EU powers called the "simplified revision procedure".

This will allow future EU treaties to be changed by amendment, rather than an entire treaty having to be agreed.

Mr Hague added: "The EU will no longer need new treaties to scrap national vetoes or expand important powers." European Commission lawyers believe the new procedure will help to avoid clamours for future referendums because the public and MPs will not easily be able to detect a drift of power to Brussels.

"There will be a lack of clarity and people will have to do their own private research to get an overview of what is going on," said an official.

The only policy areas where the veto will not be open to future challenge will be military or defence policy.

The sole safeguard against the EU extending its powers in justice, policing or welfare will be a clause giving national parliaments six months to declare opposition.

EU sources told The Daily Telegraph that Mr Brown's hands have been tied by the politically binding "mandate" signed by Mr Blair.

"This clear and precise mandate is politically binding to any successor of the leaders that signed it," said a senior diplomat. "It is as binding as the EU's CO2 emissions targets we agreed in March. Who would try and go back on those?"

Yesterday Romano Prodi, the Italian prime minister, launched an outspoken attack on countries, including Britain and Poland, that had placed national interests ahead of European goals.

"In many years, I have never seen with such painful clarity the existence of two Europes: one, of the majority, that believes and wants to move ahead; the other, that pursues a reduction of the role of the European Union as a national political objective,'' he said.

Mr Prodi accused Britain of "obstinacy'' for insisting that plans for an EU anthem and flag be excluded from the treaty, and for "conducting a battle'' against the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.