Ahern says meeting with Aznar 'very positive'

The Taoiseach has held a "very positive" meeting with Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José María Aznar, in Madrid today on a proposed…

The Taoiseach has held a "very positive" meeting with Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José María Aznar, in Madrid today on a proposed constitution for the European Union.

Spain, along with Poland, rejected the Convention's draft constitution last October at the Inter-Governmental Conference in Rome.

In a statement afterwards Mr Ahern said the meeting was "very positive" and re-iterated Ireland's determination to make early progress in the Constitution discussions.

The Taoiseach plans to hold discussions with European leaders and leaders of the 10 accession states this week.

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Earlier Mr Ahern said he believed Spain, Poland, France and Germany were prepared to move from their original negotiation positions in an attempt to reach an agreement over a new EU voting system.

Mr Ahern has said that retaining the voting system agreed at Nice is not an option if agreement is to be found on the draft constitution.

The Convention's draft constitution called for most issues to be decided by a "double majority" of over half EU member states representing at least 60 per cent of the bloc's population. Spain and Poland rejected that.

Luke Cassidy

Luke Cassidy

Luke Cassidy is Digital Production Editor of The Irish Times