EU leaders converged on Brussels yesterday for their annual summer summit, pledging to break a two-year deadlock on the constitution. However, German Chancellor Angela Merkel revealed no agreement had so far been reached.
"There are no results ... and the leaders have to further talks tomorrow," Merkel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters, adding that there was a positive atmosphere.
Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, urged all EU members to engage the issue in a spirit of"show solidarity and commitment" so that the 27-nation bloc can have "a capacity to act."
Poland, Britain, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands are all pushing for changes to the constitutional road map, which would help streamline the EU decision-making process. Poland, in particular, has come under rising pressure to soften its stance. Often depicted as the leader of the Eastern EU nations, Poland has consistently opposed the "double majority" voting scheme envisaged in the EU constitution, as it fears this would give more power to populous countries such as Germany.
The "double majority" voting system would remove national vetoes, and allow decision-making to be carried out by a 55 percent majority of member states and simultaneously 65 percent of the EU's total population.
Poland has threatened to derail the new treaty process if its objections are not heeded and has come up with a new voting scheme, suggesting that a nation's votes equal the square root of its population.
The EU summit, set to last through Friday, has adopted regulation which will see Malta and Cyprus officially enter the Euro zone on January 1, 2008.
Beyond negotiations on the road map for a new EU treaty, the two-day summit will be dominated by discussions over the Western Balkans, and EU relations with Africa and Brazil.
(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2007)
