Poland ready to give ground on EU constitution

Poland vowed flexibility yesterday in stalled negotiations with France and Germany over a European Union constitution, saying the charter's approval could be delayed by years unless a compromise is found soon.

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country currently chairs the EU and is leading negotiations, urged movement from key players and saw no point in dragging the talks out.

"We declare our flexibility, but the same flexibility must be showed by the other side," Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz told a news briefing.

He said the row over the charter, which pits EU newcomer Poland and Spain against France and Germany, could end during Ireland's presidency of the bloc in the first half of this year if the negotiators move towards a deal over the next few weeks.

"If we do not reach a compromise soon, we can forget about it for a long time... If we do not move forward in the next few weeks, we will miss the moment," Cimoszewicz said.

He declined to give details on possible concessions Poland would be be ready to make to break the impasse, which led to the collapse of an EU summit in December when leaders failed to agree on voting rights for member states in the enlarged EU of 25.

Poland and Spain have rejected a draft provision that most EU decisions would be taken by a "double majority" of over half the member states representing 60 per cent of the bloc's population.

The two were the main winners of the 2000 Treaty of Nice, which gave each EU state a fixed number of votes. Spain and Poland each got 27 votes, against 29 for the Big Four of France, Germany, Britain and Italy, despite having smaller populations.

Mr Ahern, speaking at a news conference in Rome with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said there seemed to be wide backing for progress, but concessions were needed.

"I don't think any one compromise is just going to fall into place without movements," he said, refusing to point the finger at either big or small countries.