Brussels - The head of the European Union's current presidency called on Ireland's Prime Minister Brian Cowen to explain his country's rejection of the Lisbon treaty on Friday, increasing the pressure on the already-beleaguered Taoiseach, or premier. EU heads of state and government are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday, and on that day "I will invite the Irish Prime Minister to explain the reasons for the rejection of the treaty by the Irish people," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the bloc's rotating presidency, said in a statement.
"We will discuss the situation and look for ways to move forward," he said.
Cowen's Brussels visit, his first as Ireland's head of government, looks set to be a torrid one as EU counterparts demand an explanation for Ireland's resounding rejection of the treaty.
Jansa on Friday said that the treaty, which was drawn up after French and Dutch voters blocked a more ambitious text, "is necessary to make Europe more efficient, more democratic and transparent."
But critics say that the Irish government singularly failed to make that point ahead of the referendum, with many voters citing a lack of information on the treaty as their main reason for voting no.
Strikingly, a similar criticism was made in 2001, after Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty's predecessor, the Nice treaty.
That reflection is likely to prove particularly hard for Cowen, as he was Ireland's foreign minister at the time - and was therefore called upon to explain that rejection, too, to EU colleagues.
