Ireland is to propose ways out of the institutional deadlock caused by its rejection of the Lisbon treaty at the end of the summer, a top EU official said Tuesday.
"After the vacations, after the holidays, I understand that our Irish friends will come up with some ideas" on the issue, Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose government currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said at a meeting in Luxembourg, reported dpa.
The Lisbon treaty is intended to speed up EU decision-making and enhance its international profile, but Irish voters in a referendum on Thursday rejected the treaty, meaning that it cannot come into the force across the EU.
EU heads of state and government are set to meet in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the problem, after foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg did the same on Monday.
The consensus from Monday's meeting was that the EU should "show solidarity" with Ireland, but that it was now incumbent on the Irish government to present its analysis of the situation and propose ways out of the impasse.