Italian Lisbon vote builds pressure on Ireland

PHILIPPA RUNNER Today @ 09:26 CET The Italian senate's unanimous support for the Lisbon treaty on Wednesday (23 July) should help force Ireland into a revote, Italian politicians have said, with Ireland looking increasingly likely to stand out as the only EU country not to ratify the text. "If ratification takes place in the other 26 states, in the autumn we will be able to ask Ireland to find a solution which will not block the integration process and go to the European elections with the new rules foreseen in the Lisbon treaty," the senate's foreign affairs committee head, Lamberto Dini, indicated. Rome: the founding EU treaty was signed in the Italian capital in 1957 (Photo: EUobserver.com) "The challenge [of solving Europe's political problems] will begin on the day when the treaty enters into force and when the [EU]... [read full story]