"A problem of communication". The Irish "no" to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty marks the distance between the EU institutions and the citizens and the "difficulty in communicating what Europe" does for them. Today, in the Brussels HQ of the European Parliament, Janez Jansa, Slovenian Prime Minister, took stock of the six months of his presidency that will end on June 30th, lingering on the latest difficulties caused by the institutional referendum in the Emerald Island. Jansa mentioned the three points that have come out of the summit of June 19-20: "A solution must be found without undermining the substance of the Lisbon Treaty, the ratification process must go on, and the message coming from Ireland must be seriously taken into account". José Manuel Barroso, also speaking at Parliament, said that "the summit reached wide consensus on the need for the EU not to be distracted from its work and its commitments". Then, the floor was taken by the political groups. Many insisted on the need to understand the reasons for the defeat of the Treaty and reasserted the urgency to "bring the citizens closer to the EU project". (continued)
