Brussels - The European Union launched a final push on Friday to make legally binding a set of guarantees designed to convince Irish voters to back the stalled Lisbon Treaty, amidst argument over the best way to do so.

An EU summit in Brussels will give a "legal guarantee that certain matters of concern to the Irish people will be unaffected by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon," according to a draft summit declaration drawn up overnight by EU diplomats.

The guarantees will be given as a formal decision of the EU's highest body, will be "legally binding and will take effect on date of entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon," the draft said.

"As its content is fully compatible with the (current EU) Treaty, this decision will not necessitate any re-ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon," the draft stressed.

The draft came after EU leaders on Thursday hit deadlock over the key question of how exactly the guarantees should be passed into law.

Ireland wants EU leaders to both back the document as a formal summit decision, and then to ratify it as a protocol to the EU's founding treaties, giving it fundamental legal weight.

But many EU member states, especially Britain, say they do not want to have to ratify the document, since this could re-open debate on the deeply unpopular Lisbon Treaty among their own citizens.

The draft seemed to lean towards the majority view, stressing that a decision would in itself be legally binding.

But it left a blank paragraph in the text for later amendment - leaving open the possibility of acceding to Ireland's demand.

EU leaders were set to spend the bulk of Friday morning debating the issue.

Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty, which is supposed to make the EU more efficient, at a referendum in June 2008.

Post-mortem analyses showed that Irish voters rejected the treaty out of fears that it would end Ireland's neutrality and take away its control of tax law, family law and labour and social guarantees.

At a summit in December, EU leaders promised to give Ireland "legal guarantees" that the treaty would not affect those issues.

In return, Ireland is expected to call a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty in the autumn. EU leaders hope that a positive decision would allow them to bring the treaty into force by the year's end.(dpa)