'Compromise' plea to EU leaders over new constitution
Europe’s leaders were urged today to sink their national differences and agree a constitutional treaty “in a spirit of European compromise”.
At the start of a marathon summit in Brussels, the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, said it was understandable that prime ministers and presidents had their “red lines” in the bartering over the EU’s future.
But he warned: “We need to ensure that the red lines are not so extensive that we cannot see the black print underneath”.
The main stumbling block – a row over national voting power in EU meetings - involves Germany and France on one side and Spain and Poland on the other.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been mooted as a possible peace-broker, especially after his “constructive” private breakfast meeting with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder before the summit began.
Mr Cox was first to address the 25-nation meeting today, appealing directly to the member states to ensure there are no “leftovers” in the talks – in other words to reach a full deal on all parts of the proposed new constitution.
“Let us now do the business and give ourselves a constitutional treaty that lasts for years and then let’s stop this endless institutional change and endless European introspection”.
The summit began with routine discussion on the EU economy and the prospects for achieving EU goals for jobs and growth.
The crucial negotiation on a controversial constitution to make the EU work effectively when it expands to 25 nations next May is due to start later today - with no-one predicting when it will end.
No-one was prepared to predict success or failure either – although the meeting’s chairman, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, warned that the expected row over voting rights could scupper hopes of a deal.
Even if a deal is reached, the new constitution does not come into force immediately: the exercise was launched to avoid political gridlock when dealing with 25 countries from May next year, but the constitution would not in any case start to apply until 2007 at the earliest.
