Germany, Poland revive talks

Germany and Poland broke a deadlock over the European Union constitution yesterday, saying a deal over the bloc's first ever charter could be reached by the end of June.

"I am very happy that we agree that the creation of the constitution... should be finished during the Irish presidency (in the first half of 2004)," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said after talks with Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller.

A dispute over the charter, pitting Germany and France against Poland and Spain, led to the collapse of the EU summit in December. The Irish EU presidency hopes to re-launch constitution talks at a Brussels summit on Friday.

After the election of a socialist government in Spain, which wants to make peace over the constitution, Poland had to give ground in the negotiations to avoid isolation weeks before it joins the EU along with nine other countries, diplomats said.

"In our talks with the Chancellor, we discussed various ways of reaching a compromise... We believe that a compromise is not only necessary but also possible," Mr Miller told a joint news conference with Chancellor Schroeder.

His declaration is certain to win praise in the EU, but it will probably weaken his already shaky position at home.

"There won't be an agreement by the end of this week... The prospects for agreement by the end of the Irish presidency are now significantly greater," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told a news conference in Copenhagen.

One Polish ruling social democratic party official said the right-wing opposition was likely to portray Mr Miller's conciliatory tone as a surrender to EU heavyweights, adding to pressure on the deeply unpopular prime minister to quit.

"It will now be crucial for Poland to negotiate some face-saving formula in the agreement," said Janusz Reiter, chief of the International Relations Centre in Warsaw.

The leaders, who earlier had lunch in Mr Miller's villa in the suburbs of Warsaw, declined to give any details, saying they had instructed their foreign ministers to work on a possible deal.