Third Lisbon Treaty referendum 'cannot be ruled out'
European leaders have agreed to consider making changes to the Lisbon Treaty to protect the Euro in a financial crisis, in a plan unveiled late last night at a summit in Brussels.
It is less than 11 months since the Lisbon Treaty was enacted.
Throughout yesterday's summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel was pushing for the creation of a permanent rescue scheme for distressed euro countries.
And although other leaders were initially sceptical, they eventually agreed small changes to existing agreements are needed to protect the euro.
The job of figuring out those amendments has now fallen to European Council President Herman von Rompuy, who must report back at another summit before Christmas, and the changes are to be agreed by mid-2013.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen admitted yesterday the prospect of another vote on Lisbon could not be ruled out, depending on the scale of any changes that arise.
