As I read it, part of the reason for the no vote in France was that they were afraid the EU was heading down the road of Anglo American style economics. The kind of economics that makes America so successful and the kind of economics that made my country one of the richest in Europe after years of being a second rate supplier of immigrants to the US and Britain. The kind of economics that the newly joined Eastern Europeans are copying having seen how well it worked in Ireland. Which means one day all old left leaning social welfare countries like France and Germany and it seems Holland will be in decline and be supported by the newly affluent Poland, Hungary etc etc.
Don't forget Ireland has done very well out of European subsidies, receiving 3 - 6% of GDP per year from European central funds throught the 1980s and 1990s (and Ireland, as of 2004, still got more money per head of population out of Europe than any other country. The UK, France and Germany are all net contributors, not beneficaries)
Certainly Ireland's economic policies have helped, it's quite easy for a country to piss away incoming foreign aid, but those low taxes have come in part because other Europeans were picking up your tax bill. (as of 2001 European subsidies were still worth an extra 4% on income tax)
I don't think the rest of Europe is going to be prepared to give the new European countries enough money for them to go the same way as Ireland. (In fact it's not even possible. Ireland has a small population, to extend the same level of aid to all the new eastern European countries would be prohibitive)
