Legally, ratification of the Nice Treaty is not necessary for enlargement

Romano Prodi

Mr Prodi said he wanted to use his visit to listen to Irish opinion, two weeks after voters threw the future of the treaty into doubt by rejecting it in a referendum.

But on the first day of the visit he made conflicting comments about whether the EU's plans to take in 12 new member states can go ahead without ratification of the treaty.

The treaty, which was negotiated at the Nice summit last December, must be ratified by all member states before it can come into force.

Where now?

"Legally, ratification of the Nice Treaty is not necessary for enlargement," Mr Prodi said in an interview with the Irish Times.

Without ratification we will put Europe on hold... We should have a paralysis. The Nice Treaty is a political condition for enlargement

Romano Prodi

Later, however, he said: "Without ratification we will put Europe on hold... We should have a paralysis. The Nice Treaty is a political condition for enlargement".

The treaty lays out the necessary institutional changes for the EU to be able to work once it has 27 member states.

While EU officials have tried to put on a brave face over the vote, most agree that, without the treaty, enlargement would ultimately run into the sand.

Correspondents say that Mr Prodi's gaffe is indicative of the confusion reigning in Brussels over how to proceed after the Irish vote.

Military neutrality

The referendum result came as a severe embarrassment to Prime Minister Bertie Ahern's government and Irish ministers have insisted that the vote was not a rejection of enlargement, but a reflection of other concerns.

In particular, voters were thought to fear that plans for the European rapid reaction force might mean Irish forces getting dragged into a conflict, compromising their traditional neutrality.

A second referendum is expected to be called in the republic later, possibly with reassurances attached over neutrality.

Ahern must work out how to win over sceptical voters

But Mr Prodi says he now wants to listen to Irish opinions on Europe.

The commission president wants to "understand how Ireland feels about the European Union and its future," his spokesman, Jonathan Faull, said.

At last weekend's summit in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, European leaders pledged to back Mr Ahern in his efforts to get the treaty past a second referendum.