France sees December deal to end EU treaty impasse

(PARIS) - France's Europe minister said Thursday he was confident a deal would be reached in December to break the EU deadlock over a reform treaty rejected by Irish voters.

"I think we will reach a very balanced political accord with the Irish that will open the perspective of the application of the Lisbon Treaty," Jean-Pierre Jouyet told parliament after returning from a trip to Dublin.

"I think that in the framework of preparations for the (European summit) of December 11 and 12 that contacts have been fruitful," said Jouyet, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency until the end of the year.

The minister, who was in Dublin Tuesday for talks with Irish officials, did not give details of what the political accord might entail.

Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in a referendum in June forced the European Union to put its plans to streamline decision-making on hold as the text must be ratified by all member states to take effect.

A press report in a Dublin paper Tuesday said that an Irish parliamentary committee had highlighted the possibility of holding a second referendum on the beleaguered treaty.

For the past two months the Subcommittee on Ireland's Future in the EU has been mulling ways forward and, according to a draft report seen by the Irish Times, has concluded that there is no legal obstacle to a second referendum.