EU: European Union leaders meet in Brussels today to discuss some of thorniest questions surrounding Europe's proposed constitutional treaty and to consider proposals to boost economic growth by investing in infrastructure and research and development projects.
During their two-day meeting, the leaders will also discuss developments in Iraq and in the Middle East peace process and take stock of progress towards co-ordinating EU policies on asylum and immigration.
The summit starts this morning with a session of the Inter-Governmental Conference, the so-called IGC, which is due to finalise the constitutional treaty text by mid-December.
Most of the treaty negotiations are conducted by foreign ministers but the leaders, who will be joined by the President of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, will today examine proposals to change the composition of the European Parliament, the role of a new, full-time President of the European Council and plans to change the way EU member-states vote in the Council of Ministers.
The proposals for the European Parliament are relatively uncontroversial, although some small countries want to raise the minimum number of seats allocated to each country. Most governments now accept the proposal to appoint a President of the European Council for a renewable period of two and a half years but there is disagreement about what his role should be. Some countries envisage a chairman figure who would do little more than chair and organise the agenda of EU summits and perform a representational role outside the EU.
Other governments, notably in the larger member-states, would like the President to adopt an almost prime ministerial role, co-ordinating the work of EU meetings of finance, foreign, agriculture and other ministers. The issue is unlikely to be resolved today but the Italian Presidency hopes that the discussion will help to narrow the gaps between various positions.
The reform of the voting system in the Council of Ministers has become one of the most controversial issues in the IGC, with Spain and Poland resisting fiercely any move to change the system of weighted votes agreed at Nice. The draft treaty proposes to define a qualified majority as a simple majority of member-states representing more than 60 per cent of the EU's population. Spanish press reports suggested yesterday that Madrid may be willing to consider a compromise proposal that would raise the population threshold from 60 to 66 per cent but the issue is likely to be one of the very last to be agreed in the IGC.
The Commission President, Mr Romano Prodi, yesterday warned EU leaders that prolonged wrangling over institutional changes could alienate European citizens from the constitutional debate.
"The issues to settle are not complicated; what is needed, first and foremost, is the political courage to take a limited number of decisions in the European interest. It is important for Europe not to become bogged down in an institutional power struggle over the weeks to come; those are not the main issues that will mobilise our citizens, and we have to look ahead now to the upcoming referenda," he said.
This afternoon, leaders will discuss the Commission's proposal to boost investment in infrastructure and research projects by €220 billion in an attempt to boost economic growth in Europe. Some governments are sceptical about elements of the plan, including a proposal to triple the level of direct EU aid to some projects. The sceptics argue that, with interest rates at an historically low level, access to finance is not the primary obstacle in the way of completing many of Europe's big infrastructure projects.
The leaders, who will be accompanied in Brussels by foreign ministers and finance ministers, will discuss developments in Iraq and give their first reaction to the latest United Nations Security Council resolution on the issue.
In a joint statement on the Middle East, the leaders are expected to criticise Israel's construction of a security fence that cuts into Palestinian territory.