No Progress on EU Treaty
Thursday, June 21, 2007; 9:54 PM
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- German and French leaders met with Poland's president in talks that lasted into the early hours Friday, seeking to win support for a European Union treaty aimed at replacing a proposal for a constitution that failed two years ago.
The late night session came after both Poland and Britain threatened to exercise their vetoes to prevent plans to draft the treaty at a European Union summit, with Warsaw demanding more voting rights and London refusing to cede some powers to Brussels.
  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, left, in the Berlin Chancellery in this Sunday, June 3, 2007 file photo. Insults and acrimony. Warnings of chaos and late-night squabbles over byzantine voting rules. It's time for European leaders to make another stab at "ever closer union." The root of all the angst is a EU draft constitution declared dead by many when it was rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago. The issue will be discussed again at an upcoming summit in Brussels on Thursday June 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Fritz Reiss, File) (Fritz Reiss - AP) PHOTOS |
After summit leaders dined together Thursday evening, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the host of the summit, held closed-door talks with Polish President Lech Kaczynski in an effort to convince him that the EU's voting system could be adapted to benefit Warsaw.
Officials said that the late-night meeting lasted about an hour, concluding early Friday morning. Most negotiations are set for Friday.
Merkel, determined to close out Germany's EU presidency with a deal on a treaty she says is crucial for governing the expanded EU, said she would hold one-on-one talks later Friday before leaders reconvene for discussions.
"Every effort should be made to try to come to an agreement," Merkel said. "If that is possible we cannot say now."
Agreement is seen as crucial since continued deadlock will make it harder for the 27-nation EU to make decisions and leave Europe with a muddled voice in world affairs.
Britain sees several parts of proposed treaty as a creeping move toward a European superstate that would undermine its sovereignty.
Outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair has insisted he will veto any new treaty resembling the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago.
Poland, which joined in 2004, is a fledgling newcomer in comparison. Yet in a union where unanimity is paramount, it is throwing its weight around like a veteran.
Kaczynski feels the EU's proposal for a weighted voting system _ in which the population of a country is key _ leaves Poland undervalued and argues that his country would be much larger now had Nazi Germany not killed 6 million Poles.
Before wrangling over the treaty, the leaders agreed on at least one matter. They welcomed Cyprus and Malta's intention of adopting the euro currency. Final approval, expected by EU finance ministers next month, would bring the number of countries in the euro zone to 15.
___
Associated Press writers Aoife White and Emmanuel Georges-Picot contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
