EU Constitution Threatened With Roadblock

Hours before the start of the meeting, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder met for breakfast to talk about the summit. While the three seemed to agree on major issues, their differences with Poland and Spain continue to endanger adoption of the constitution.

After meeting Polish President Alexander Kwasniewksi (photo, right) on Thursday, Schröder said there was a chance adoption of the constitution might not happen.

"It’s possible," he told German public television. "The Polish president still insists on substantial changes and these can’t be made because of the draft’s quality as it is."

Schröder also warned Germany’s eastern neighbor that a threatened veto on the constitution would not look good for Poland, one of 10 countries slarted to join the EU next May. "One cannot want to become a new member of the EU and begin this membership with a veto," Schröder said.

Poland, Spain insist on old voting rights

Poland’s main problem with the proposed constitution is that it would curtail smaller countries’ voting rights in the EU council of ministers. The 2000 Nice treaty gave Poland and Spain 27 votes each, only two less than much more populous France and Germany.

The new constitution would change that and require a so-called double majority: Decisions would have to be approved by a majority of countries representing 60 percent of the EU’s population.

Germany and France have refused to give in on the matter and said they would rather postpone adoption of the entire document until a later date rather than approving pieces of it.

Berlusconi talks about miracles

Some, however, still seemed more optimistic about salvaging this weekend’s negotiations. On Thursday, Silvio Berlusconi (photo) still spoke of miracles. The Italian prime minister, who holds the rotating EU presidency, said he had come up with a proposal that would allow Spain and Poland to save face.

"We have to find a solution that will let them keep their prestige," Berlusconi said, adding that he was going to pull out a "miracle solution" at the last minute.

Berlusconi also said, however, that only a miracle could still break the deadlock. The Italian has hoped to see the constitution adopted during his term as EU council president, which ends on Dec. 31. But he reasoned that no major EU project has been pushed through within a single presidency’s six-month term before.