Germany urges EU partners to move on without Poland

by Guy Jackson

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Germany urged its European Union partners to move ahead on a new treaty of reforms without Poland, after Warsaw rejected an offer to modify the bloc's voting system in its favour.

After a series of unsuccessful face-to-face talks with Polish President Lech Kaczynski, German Chancellor Angela Merkel decided to press on with plans for ending the EU's two-year political malaise and replace its failed constitution.

"The German chancellor wants to take a decision at the summit without Poland," her spokesman, Ulrich Wilhelm, told reporters, setting up a marathon summit in Brussels.

"The German presidency now wants to obtain a joint mandate of the 26 other countries for an Inter-Governmental Conference," he said, referring to a series of meetings originally set to start next month to finalize the "reform treaty".

Under EU rules, only a simple majority of the 27 countries is needed to call such a conference, and this has happened in 1985, despite the objections of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

However decisions at the conference would have to be taken at unanimity.

"Poland would then have the chance to join the European consensus at the governmental conference in the autumn," Wilhelm said.

After the announcement, an EU diplomat warned that "nothing has been decided yet. Everything could change over dinner" among the leaders.

Merkel's gambit came after Poland dashed first hopes for a treaty deal.

After making an in-principle agreement with Germany to change the way voting powers are shared, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski poured cold water on the plan and threatened to go further.

"What's been proposed to us is not enough for us to be able to accept," he told Polish public television, after his twin brother and president, Lech Kazcynski, had consulted him on the proposal.

"If you ask me now, I'd say that the negotiations are going to end with a veto," he said.

Off camera his foreign policy advisor said: "We are still looking to reach a compromise."

The complex five-point deal had been drawn up with the president by Merkel, who appears determined to crown her EU presidency by steering Europe closer to a treaty to replace its failed constitution.

But as night fell in Brussels, Poland appeared to be driving an even harder bargain than first thought, although Britain claimed to making progress on its "red lines" -- the points beyond which Prime Minister Tony Blair will not go.

In another positive development, the leaders appeared to have agreed on another possible sticking point, replacing the title "foreign minister" as set out in the draft treaty with "High Representative of the EU", a diplomat said.

However it was unclear whether, or how much, the job description would have to change too.

Poland and Britain have proved the biggest stumbling blocks to the "reform treaty" which is meant to simplify the way the EU makes decisions as it expands.

It is deemed vital to revitalise the EU which is using rules drawn up before its ranks swelled from 15 to 27 member states over the past three years.

Poland's populist and deeply conservative Kaczynski twins say the so-called "double majority" mechanism proposed in the new treaty would give big countries like neighbouring Germany too much decision-making power.

Among the winners so far was French President Nicolas Sarkozy who managed to wring a concession from Germany, convincing them to give a lower profile for "free and undistorted competition" in the proposed treaty.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said Britain had made headway on its problem issues but would not go into details.

"We are making progress as far as we're concerned on the four key elements for the British position," he told reporters during a break from the summit.

Blair was referring to his insistence that Britain would not cede national control in four key "red line" areas -- foreign policy, the judicial and police system, tax and social security rules, and an EU charter of fundamental rights.

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