Poland warns against two-speed Europe

European Union heavyweights would be making a serious mistake if they sought to create an exclusive inner club of countries pursuing faster integration, Polish Minister for Europe Danuta Huebner said.

A draft EU constitution, which the EU's 15 current members and 10 newcomers due to join next year will begin discussing formally next month, would allow states to work more closely together in areas such as defence or economic cooperation.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said this week that if the treaty was blocked by advocates of a go-slow approach, "core" European countries would push on with integration anyway.

Ms Huebner said the creation of an exclusive "hard core" would deprive the EU's enlargement of its historic significance.

"Any formalisation of a two-speed Europe would be a disaster for EU enlargement, this historic undertaking," Ms Huebner told Reuters in an interview.

"Attempts at creating 'hard cores', creating areas of cooperation that are not open to all members, mean a departure from the values which propelled the idea of enlargement."

EU newcomers fear that after Sweden rejected the euro in a referendum on Sunday, the 12 countries that use the currency may boost cooperation, excluding other EU members from decision-making in major economic policy areas.

The newcomers are unlikely to be able to adopt the euro until around 2007 at the earliest.

The mostly pro-US newcomers are also concerned that EU opponents of the war on Iraq - notably France, Germany and the Benelux countries - may push ahead with plans for a defence group that could become independent of Nato.

This could provoke the wrath of the United States and weaken security links that have served Europe well over the last 50 years, she said: "Current terrorist threats show the importance of good transatlantic defence cooperation."

She brushed aside suggestions that Poland - the biggest country joining the bloc next May - was dragging its feet in preparing its laws and administration for membership, risking initial exclusion from some EU policies.

Business groups have warned that, for example, the EU could block meat imports if Poland fails to fulfil its food hygiene standards in time.

"On April 30, we will be fully prepared," Mr Huebner said.