03/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting of the National Forum on Europe in Dublin on 2 March, Croatian prime minister Ivo Sanader warned against what he saw as 'Enlargement Fatigue' in the EU. He told the forum that Croatia was 'at the heart of Europe', more central that some of the existing Member States. Irish finance minister Brian Cowen expressed concern about the effect the stalemate over the European Constitution might be having on th4 momentum behind Croatian efforts to join the EU. Former European Commissioner, Chancellor of Oxford University Chris Patten said he particularly strongly supported Croatia's application to join the EU. He defined the 'slippery concept' of sovereignty and contended that traditional notions of sovereignty were often wide of the mark, quoting the example of Norway, which implements EU legislation faster than any Member State yet has not say in the decision-making process. Alan Dukes of Fine Gael and Tony Brown of Labour argued that the disconnection between the EU and its citizens, aka the 'democratic deficit', was the result of a chasm between national political institutions and was the responsibility of Member States to address.