30/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - The Irish prime minister, Bertie Ahern and the Swedish prime minister, Fredrik Reinfedt, will be in Berlin this Thursday where they will both have a working lunch with Chancellor Angela Merkel in preparation for the 21-22 June summit on the future EU treaty. Ireland and Sweden are countries that have still not ratified the Constitutional Treaty and want to safeguard a maximum of the text. According to the Irish press, Ahern will remind Merkel of the Irish position, according to which a reopening of the “institutional package” of the Constitutional Treaty, including the voting mechanism at the Council (double majority that is opposed by Poland), should be avoided at all costs in order to prevent the delicate compromise negotiated at the June 2004 European Council (under the Irish presidency) being destroyed. The Taoiseach will also tell Ms Merkel that the Irish constitution compels the government to hold a referendum on any new EU treaty. (hb)