 French President Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking to the European Parliament in his capacity as President of the European Council during the six-month presidency of that body by France, stated that the legal guarantees would be added as a protocol later to the treaty, enabling Croatia to join the European Union legally.The guarantee that Ireland would keep its Commissioner provided Lisbon was ratified was criticised in the "Irish Times" on the grounds that it may lead to an oversized European Commission.The Twenty-eighth Amendment in October 2009 formally authorised the government to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon.