Ireland can clinch the deal

When Ireland voted no for the Lisbon Treaty, the EU got the message that every member state should continue to nominate its own commissioner to the European Commission. This was unlike the Lisbon Treaty's set date of 2014 for the reduction of the number of commissioners to a number equal to two-thirds of the number of EU member states.

Last June, the Heads of State and of government of the European Union member states set out their agreement that "provided the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force, a decision would be taken, in accordance with the necessary legal procedures, to the effect that the Commission shall continue to include one national of each member state".

This decision to keep the one member state, one commissioner principle was only possible because the Lisbon Treaty in its own procedures allows the member states by unanimous decision to de-activate the 2014 reduction of commissioners to two-thirds of the member states by rotation on the basis of equality and, instead, to retain the one member state, one commissioner composition.

That particular amendment to the Lisbon Treaty draft text was inserted at the very last session of discussions on the treaty and was a proposal by Austria, which originated from a text proposed by Malta in a pre-summit "caucus" meeting of like-minded states.

This in-built internal mechanism was the lynchpin on which the agreement with Ireland could be reached for a re-vote on the Lisbon Treaty without the need to amend the treaty and start afresh with signatures and ratifications.

The case for one member state, one commissioner is, in my view, stronger than that of a reduced Commission, which would have weakened the Commission, inter alia, by making the College of Commissioners less representative and knowledgeable of all the diverse intricate realities of the member states composing the Union.

Adoption of the Lisbon Treaty puts decision-making on a new platform in the EU, increasing the use of qualified majority voting. However, it also retains unanimity for fundamental decisions and defines more clearly than ever the competencies that belong to the EU and those which belong to the member states, making it clear that competences not explicitly conferred on the Union remain with the member states.

It is imperative that working with the new structures, the political leaders of Europe allow wisdom and vision to overcome short-sighted horse-trading and tactical positioning. While pushing forward with its integration process, the EU must retain its consensus-building, all-embracing approach seeking to retain every member state on board as it inexorably moves forward.

One new position will be the permanent Presidency of the Council. This calls for careful choice in which moderation, credibility and inclusiveness must be operative criteria for a person who will have to chart new territory, particularly in his/her relationship with the President of the Commission and the president of the European Parliament.

Ireland's yes in tomorrow's vote would open the way for the final ratifications to be implemented and for Europe to put the Lisbon Treaty finally in place and all this process behind it. The EU should then, with a sense of urgency, bring its stabilising effect to the Western Balkans by extending membership to Croatia and opening the way for other states from that region and beyond to enter the EU fold as long as they satisfy the Copenhagen criteria.

This dynamism for Europe can only return if the decade-long discussion on the future of Europe is brought to a successful close by an Irish yes vote tomorrow.

Now that the Irish know that "their" commissioner, as that of "all the others", will be around the table of the Commission, they need to vote yes to Lisbon to clinch the deal.

Dr Frendo, a signatory to the Treaty of Lisbon in December 2007, is a former Foreign Minister of Malta and former member of the European Convention on the Future of Europe.