Polish concerns should not halt EU treaty - Barroso

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said yesterday it should be possible to address Polish concerns over a new EU treaty and ensure it can be completed at a forthcoming summit.

Poland's eurosceptic ruling Kaczynski twins want a mechanism built into the treaty to delay EU decisions and could still be an obstacle to completing the charter designed to reform EU institutions.

Dr Barroso discussed the treaty with Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski and his identical twin brother Lech, the President.

"Prime Minister Kaczynski explained to me some of the specific concerns of Poland in this matter," Dr Barroso said.

"I really believe... there should be no political, possible problem there. I think it is possible to find technical solutions that will respond to the concerns of all the member states."

The Kaczynskis fought with EU partners ahead of a summit on the new treaty in June and won a delay in implementation of a new voting system they fear will give too much power to bigger states.

Later they demanded that the treaty include a clear mechanism allowing countries to delay EU decisions if they were just short of enough votes to block them.

The timing of next month's summit is particularly sensitive for Poland because it comes just days ahead of parliamentary elections on October 21.

The Kaczynskis' conservative Law and Justice party faces a tough challenge from the pro-EU Civic Platform, which is also favoured by markets for its pro-business agenda.

Dr Barroso said Poland's elections would not be an obstacle during the summit.

"We are 27 countries and there is almost always an election going on. If we block our decisions because a country is having an election, we would never get anything done."