Fears that Eastern European countries are preparing to follow Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon treaty have increased tensions before today’s Brussels summit, where EU leaders hope to rescue the document — or at least keep it alive.

The Continent’s leaders are refusing to accept that the treaty is dead, despite the dramatic Irish referendum rejection last week, and are determined to persuade the Czechs and the Poles, seen as the two most likely to suspend ratification, to complete the process.

The treaty, designed to streamline the EU machine by removing national vetoes, cutting back commissioners and creating a president of the European Council, cannot pass unless all 27 EU countries ratify it.

Brian Cowen, the Irish Prime Minister, will face his 26 fellow leaders at the opening dinner tonight, most of them desperate to hear him say one thing: that Ireland will try a second referendum early next year.

But he is expected to avoid making this commitment because he has not yet worked out what the EU can offer Ireland to persuade voters to change their minds; it is not even clear that he believes a rerun is winnable. Mr Cowen is expected to adopt a holding pattern, emphasising that a route out of the impasse is months away.

Irish officials appear stumped for a solution but are taking comfort from the sympathetic response received by Micheal Martin, the Foreign Minister, at an EU meeting on Monday. EU diplomats are suggesting that Ireland could be offered clear protocols guaranteeing its military neutrality and its distinctive social legislation on matters such as abortion, as well as the right to set its own tax levels.

But despite featuring in the referendum debate, none of these measures was threatened by the treaty and the Government might need more concessions, such as a guarantee that it will not lose its commissioner when they are trimmed from 27 to 18.

The January 1 target for implementing the treaty has clearly been lost and there is a growing belief in Dublin that the real deadline for action may be pushed back to next June, to coincide with the European Parliament elections, or October, when a new European Commission is appointed.

Britain is among a number of countries arguing that Ireland cannot be forced to try a second referendum, because a second defeat would be a calamity.

Yesterday José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, joined those urging the remaining eight countries to complete their ratifications of the treaty this year.

In Poland, the document has cleared parliament but is awaiting the signature of President Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, and he could well decide to hold off until it is clearer whether the treaty can be saved in Ireland.

In the Czech Republic, there is a constitutional court challenge and President Klaus has pronounced the treaty dead. The Government has yet to give a clear statement of its intentions.

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