Malta to have sixth MEP from mid-2009

The longest EU summit since enlargement in 2004 ended yesterday morning with all member states appearing to be satisfied with a face-saving compromise which should lead the EU to a more efficient working structure in the coming years. Following round- the-clock talks ending at 5 a.m., Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that the EU had finally reached the desired agreement and that Malta has managed also to safeguard its interests.

As a result of this agreement, Malta will be allocated a sixth MEP as from the next European Parliament election in mid-2009, which now brings Malta on an equal footing with Luxembourg. Malta has also managed to keep the same vote weighting at EU Council level as originally agreed in the defunct EU constitution. Malta has also obtained a technical definition of its status as an island member state, which will make a difference when the EU is allocating its funding.

On the whole, the agreement, captained by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, is a typical EU backdoor compromise, with the main substance of the original constitution rejected by the Dutch and France retained almost in its entirety and with some sweeteners offered to those member states which kept insisting on concessions until the end. The only difference will be that the 'reformed treaty' will be ratified without the need to put the new text to a referendum.

The nitty-gritty of the final text will now have to be agreed by a new intergovernmental conference (IGC) to be convened under the upcoming Portuguese Presidency in July. EU leaders however agreed that the new IGC will be short and focused around the mandate agreed yesterday. The intention is that at the end of the Portuguese Presidency, next December, the new treaty will be signed by all the 27 member states and ratified individually by all national parliaments by mid-2009 when it enters into force.

Although Malta had ratified the draft constitutional treaty, locally marking a first unanimous vote on the EU, the Maltese Parliament will have to repeat the process as this is considered as a new treaty.

The mandate given by the EU leaders for the IGC defines the main points the future treaty as being:

• The treaty will not be called "a constitution" but instead a "reform treaty", which will amend the EU's existing treaty building blocks (Rome 1957, Maastricht 1992) as the treaties of Amsterdam (1996) and Nice (2000) did. The new text will be much shorter than the weighty 480-page Constitution.

• The existing EU charter of fundamental rights (54 articles on political and social rights in Europe) will be referred to in the treaty, rather than be reprised in full. It will not be binding on Britain.

• The treaty guidelines include the Constitution's plan for a "qualified majority voting" system, also called a double majority system, whereby decisions need the support of 55 per cent of member states representing 65 per cent of the EU's population. To overcome Poland's objection that the system would penalise it to the advantage of large states such as Germany, a compromise deal was reached under which the new system will not come into use until 2014 and will then be gradually phased in up to 2017. After that date, if there are not enough states to form a blocking majority, but almost enough, then the measure can be re-examined.

• The scope of decisions to be taken by the double majority voting system is extended to 40 new areas, mainly in the police and judicial fields. Britain will be allowed an opt-in exemption on criminal matters and police co-operation. National vetoes will still be available for foreign policy, fiscal matters and social policy, among other areas.

• The EU will have a new post of President of the European Council (which comprises all EU national leaders). He will be elected to a two-and-a-half-year term in place of the current system whereby the EU presidency rotates between member states every six months. The president will organise and chair summits.

• Instead of an EU foreign affairs minister, the new treaty defined this new post as an EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The person occupying this post will have the same powers to lead the EU's external affairs and will be a vice-president of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

• The current practice of each member state getting a place on the European Commission will end in 2014. After that, the number of commissioners will be equal to two-thirds of the member states. The countries represented will change by rotation.