In Politics Weekly this week, Nick Watt asks whether the EU will recover after Ireland rejected the Lisbon treaty in a referendum last week.
Ian Traynor, the Guardian's Europe editor, sets the scene for the EU summit in Brussels. Ian says the Irish will be given time to assess the "no" vote but they may be asked to vote again. Simon Hoggart, the Guardian's parliamentary sketchwriter, describes the scenes in the Commons on Wednesday when Gordon Brown and David Cameron clashed over Europe. And Will Hutton, the Observer columnist, says that Britain and Ireland may be heading for a semi-detached status in the EU.
Joining Nick round the table are Denis MacShane, the former Europe minister, who believes that EU leaders were wrong to dismiss the Irish vote. But Denis stands by the Lisbon treaty on the grounds that the EU needs a new rule book if it is to continue to expand and to tackle terrorism and climate change.
Daniel Hannan, the Eurosceptic Conservative MEP who staged a protest in the European parliament on Wednesday, is jumping for joy. He says it is time for European leaders to accept that this latest phase in the European project has now been rejected three times – in Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
David Hearst, the Guardian's foreign affairs leader writer, says Irish voters are expressing views that would be expressed in Britain if Gordon Brown had granted us a referendum.
