The Hindu : Deadlock persists over constitution

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 13, 2003

International

International

Deadlock persists over constitution

By Vaiju Naravane

Brussels Dec. 12. There was little sign of hope that the deadlocked situation over the European Union Constitution would be resolved as talks got underway at a European Summit meeting here.

As the leaders of France, Britain and Germany, the three largest European countries huddled into a private breakfast at a top city hotel, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, who currently holds the E.U.'s rotating presidency said only "a miracle" could save a total breakdown of talks. But, he cautioned, "miracles are known to happen".

Mr. Berlusconi promised on Wednesday he would unveil a last minute compromise to break the deadlock. His leadership has been criticised by Spain with diplomats saying Rome had not made a single concrete proposal in the last two months.

As if reflecting the mood in the meeting rooms inside, the sky over Brussels remained stubbornly grey with a cold wind whipping the European flags flying bravely outside.

The two-day summit that could drag on into Sunday or Monday, is designed to agree on a constitution for the E.U. that will streamline its decision-making process when it expands from 15 to 25 members next May. The key sticking point is still considered to be the refusal by Spain and Poland to give up generous voting rights they obtained at the bitterly negotiated E.U. summit in Nice in 2000.

France and Germany say the voting rights must reflect the weight of the population of each country. Poland and Spain have each secured 27 votes, while Germany whose population is twice as large has 29 votes. This is unfair and unacceptable, the Franco-German duo say.

Smaller countries say larger nations have had too domineering a role within Europe. However, they feel Poland and Spain are being obdurate and self-centred in opposing the new voting system that would require a simple majority reflecting 60 per cent of the E.U.'s population of 450 million. Britain which was initially in favour of the new voting system, has shifted its stand and is expected to be a go-between in the stand-off.

Fear of domination by the E.U.'s big states is at the root of many disagreements over the constitution. Those concerns were fuelled by the recent success of France and Germany in escaping sanctions for flouting E.U. budget rules. Among key contentious issues are the composition of the European Commission — the E.U.'s executive — the powers of a new E.U. President and whether the new E.U. charter should refer to God.

The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, admitted he expected some fierce haggling, as he arrived for talks with Mr. Berlusconi on Thursday evening. "There is no doubt at all that it's going to be tough negotiations," he said. Several E.U. leaders expressed optimism even in the face of near certain deadlock. Belgium's Foreign Minister, Louis Michel, said: "We don't need a miracle to create a European constitution. We need political will." While the Portuguese Prime Minister, Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, was more upbeat: "We will find a solution at the last minute, as usual." The German Foreign Minister, Joschka Fischer, said it would be sensible to put off a deal rather than have a repeat of the Nice Treaty that has given rise to the current deadlock.

Reuters reports:

The E.U. adopted a security strategy today to make the bloc a more effective actor in world affairs, and approved a deal clinched by its big three powers on a military planning cell for crisis operations.

The leaders, seeking to draw a line under the transatlantic acrimony over Iraq, also declared their commitment to a ``constructive, balanced and forward-looking partnership'' with the United States.

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