Portugal warns two-speed Europe could divide EU

Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso warned that a two-speed Europe could create divisions within the European Union.

Fears have grown among some of the bloc's member states since talks on a new EU constitution failed in December that larger nations would forge ahead with integration, relegating other members to a slow track.

Asked after giving a speech in Madrid what he thought of the idea of a two-speed Europe, Durao Barroso said: "We need to find a system that will avoid a Balkanisation of the European Union, a division into first, second and third class members.

"We are against the idea of a directorate of two or three countries... because of the sacred principle of equality."

Portugal could not accept that two or three countries should "serve up the dish and ask the others later whether they liked it," he said. The leaders of Germany, Britain and France are due to meet in Berlin on Wednesday to align policies across a range of areas following the failure of an EU summit to agree on a ground-breaking constitution for the bloc.

The meeting has raised concerns among other EU members that those three countries would try to dominate the bloc once it expands to 25 members, from 15 at present, in May. Italy and Spain have said the three-way meeting risked creating tensions.

European Commission President Romano Prodi has said it might be desirable for Europe to operate at two speeds if the constitution fight was not quickly resolved. French President Jacques Chirac has said France and Germany would be at the heart of a leading group within an enlarged European Union.