All EU eyes now on Ireland
Referendum battle looms after Ahern signs up to Treaty of Lisbon
On the big screen: Taoiseach Bertie Ahern shakes hands with Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern after signing the EU treaty at the Jeronimos Monastery in Lisbon, where leaders of the 27-nation bloc agreed to sweeping changes to its institutions
At an elaborate ceremony at Lisbon's Jeronimos Monastery, leaders said the treaty would open a new chapter in European history by giving the 27-nation bloc a more robust foreign policy and more democracy in decision-making.
"This was the European project that many generations dreamt of and others before us championed, with a vision of the future," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates told his fellow prime ministers.
The treaty replaces a more ambitious constitution abandoned after French and Dutch voters rejected it in 2005. It preserves most of the key institutional changes but drops contentious symbols of statehood such as a flag and anthem.
Enlargement
EU leaders hope the pact will adapt the bloc's structures to cope with enlargement after it opened its doors to 12 mostly ex-communist states in 2004 and 2007. Critics say it will curb national sovereignty further and put more power in Brussels.
"For the first time, the countries that were once divided by a totalitarian curtain are now united in support of a common treaty that they had themselves negotiated," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said.
"It is the treaty of an enlarged Europe from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea."
The EU's rotating presidencies will be replaced in 2009 with a long-term president of the European Council, who will chair summits, and a stronger foreign policy chief, who will chair foreign ministers' meetings.
The treaty will allow more decisions to be taken by majority voting, notably on justice and security issues, and give more say to the European and national parliaments. A charter of fundamental European rights is attached to the treaty.
The leaders inked the text in the cloister of the monastery, signing under the hall's ornate arches while Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' was played.
Afterwards, they hopped on a tram with the words 'Treaty of Lisbon' on its side to travel the short distance to lunch at a nearby museum.
Only Ireland is planning a referendum but a poll published yesterday showed 72pc of voters here were undecided while just 22pc said they would vote 'Yes' and 6pc 'No'.
As Mr Ahern signed the treaty document, 'No' campaigners were getting into gear for a vote that is likely to take place next summer.
The Taoiseach is in Brussels today for a formal meeting with his EU counterparts as all eyes focus on Ireland as the only country to hold a referendum.
Independent MEP Kathy Sinnott said the treaty was "an undemocratic power grab by the largest EU states".
Ms Sinnott was joined by former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna, independent TD Finian McGrath and artist Robert Ballagh to launch a 'No' campaign group called the 'People's Movement'.
"This treaty by such a large shift of power from Dublin to Brussels effectively removes the citizen and even to a great extent their elected representative, both national and European, from decision-making," she said.
Mr Ahern said yesterday's signing was an important milestone for the EU.
"It allows the union move from a period of introspection to face outward to the real challenges and opportunities we face," he said.
