EU leaders were struggling last night to salvage talks on Europe's constitutional treaty amid mounting signs that this weekend's summit could end without agreement, write Denis Staunton and Mark Brennock in Brussels
A formal negotiating session broke up after just two hours yesterday but leaders were holding bilateral meetings into the early hours of this morning in an effort to resolve fundamental differences.
A dispute over how EU member-states should vote in the Council of Ministers remained the most intractable issue but up to 10 other issues, including Ireland's opposition to abolishing the national veto on some tax questions, remain unresolved.
Italy's prime minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, admitted yesterday that the talks could end tonight in failure, leaving it to Ireland's EU Presidency to resume negotiations next year.
"Nobody can be expected to do the impossible. If it does turn out to be impossible, it is better to continue the intergovernmental conference than to accept a bad constitution. I will not accept a constitution that is incapable of allowing Europe to work well," he said.
Government sources expressed little optimism last night that a deal could be done this weekend after the Taoiseach held separate meetings with the Italian and British prime ministers and the French president. Today will either be "a short day or a very long day", said one Government source last night.
If there appears to be no prospect of a deal, Government sources said, the Italian Presidency may decide to adjourn discussion of the treaty early today rather than have a further acrimonious and fruitless negotiation. However, if a deal is still thought possible when leaders gather at 11 a.m. this morning, negotiations could continue through the day and into tomorrow.
The 25 leaders of the EU's present and future member-states agree on almost all of the constitutional treaty, which has emerged from a negotiating process lasting almost two years. However, the dispute over how countries vote in the Council of Ministers goes to the heart of how power will be distributed in the EU.
Germany and France are determined that the complicated system of weighted votes agreed at Nice three years ago should be replaced by a simpler system based on population. Under this system, called a double majority, a measure could be approved by a majority of member-states representing 60 per cent of the EU's population. Spain and Poland, which have a disproportionately large number of votes under Nice, say they would prefer to reject the constitutional treaty rather than accept a new voting system.
Poland's prime minister, Mr Leszek Miller, who fractured his spine in a helicopter crash last week, won a sympathetic reception as he went into the negotiations in a wheelchair yesterday but his message to the summit was uncompromising.
"Poland is a great and proud country. We are not just fighting for our own interests but believe that a solution must be found that puts the large, medium and small states in a good position," he said.
Spain's foreign minister, Ms Ana Palacio, said that her government remained committed to retaining the Nice voting system, although Spanish sources suggested that Madrid was willing to compromise.
Senior German sources ruled out agreeing to any deal in Brussels unless the voting system was changed to a double majority, although they expressed some willingness to compromise on its precise form and on the date it should come into force.
French and German sources indicated that they would prefer to compromise if necessary in March or April next year rather than conceding to Spanish and Polish demands this weekend. Spain holds elections next spring and Poland's governing coalition is so fragile that it could fall during the next few months.
The Taoiseach said if no agreement was reached this weekend, everything would be open for negotiation again during the Irish Presidency, which begins on January 1st. Mr Ahern said he favoured staying at the negotiations while there was a prospect of agreement.