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New madrid government to accelerate eu { March 16 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1078381797104http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1078381797104
Hopes of end to deadlock on new EU constitution
By George Parker in Brussels and Jan Cienski in Warsaw
Published: March 16 2004 4:00 | Last Updated: March 16 2004 4:00
Hopes are rising in European capitals that the change of government in Madrid could break the deadlock over a new constitution for the European Union.
José Luís Rodríguez Zapatero, Spain's prime minister-elect, said yesterday he hoped for an "accelerated" adoption of the text, which aims to streamline decision-making in an expanded EU of 25 countries and to make Europe more effective on the world stage.
Mr Zapatero told Cadena Ser radio: "I believe that we will rapidly reach an agreement that will maintain a reasonable balance of power that will define the new Europe, an enlarged Europe."
Poland, which fought alongside Spain to oppose the constitution's proposed new voting system in the Council of Ministers, admitted Mr Zapatero's election could leave Warsaw isol-ated.
"These are serious complications for Poland," said Leszek Miller, the Polish prime minister.
The improved mood may persuade Bertie Ahern, Irish holder of the rotating EU presidency, to announce at next week's EU summit in Brussels that he is ready to push for a final deal. That could come either at a special summit next month, or after European elections in June.
José María Aznar, the outgoing Spanish prime minister, fought a dogged defence of the voting powers that he secured for Spain at the Nice summit in 2000 - to the irritation of France and Germany.
Speaking before Sunday's elections, Miguel Angel Moratinos, who is likely to become the foreign minister in the new Socialist-led government, told Expansión, the FT's Spanish sister paper: "It is not necessary [that Spain] retain the Nice Treaty voting power" for signing the new constitution.
"We will work [on the constitution] with the aim of building Europe together," he added.
Mr Ahern, writing in today's Financial Times, says he detects a "constructive and positive" mood among EU leaders, adding: "None of the gaps on any of the issues is so wide it cannot be closed."
He also warns of the consequences of failure. "If we cannot reach agreement soon, there must be a real danger that the project will simply run into the sand," he writes.
Mr Ahern makes it clear that any compromise on voting weights must be based on an acceptance that the complex Nice formula be scrapped in favour of "double majority" system.
Germany has already indicated it will compromise by tweaking the draft double majority voting formula to dilute the power of the biggest member states.
Although the question of voting weights remains the most divisive issue, Mr Ahern also has to find agreement on the future size of the European Commission, and on the role of national vetos. However, he believes a deal is possible. "If we are to prevent a greater sense of drift and scepticism among our citizens, we need to act now," he says.
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