THE EU: European Union foreign ministers have tried to break the deadlock in negotiations on a constitutional treaty, with a special session in Brussels focusing on two of the most controversial issues - the voting system in the Council of Ministers and a reference to the Christian tradition in the constitution's preamble.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, described the meeting as constructive and its ambience as good, and expressed confidence that a deal would be agreed at next month's meeting of EU leaders.
"There is a sense that we are moving forward," he said.
Mr Cowen said that, although all delegations now agreed that the system of weighted votes in the Council of Ministers should be replaced by a "double majority" system reflecting population size, the formula proposed in the draft constitution could not command consensus.
The draft defines a qualified majority as at least 50 per cent of member-states representing at least 60 per cent of the EU's population.
In a note sent to all delegations before yesterday's meeting, Ireland's EU presidency suggested that both thresholds could be raised.
"From its consultations, the presidency believes that consensus will not be secured without raising the population threshold," it said.
"It notes the preference expressed by some delegations for parity between the population and member-state thresholds or for the smallest possible gap between them. It therefore believes that if the population threshold is raised, an increase should be made to the member-state threshold so as to ensure, at minimum, that the gap between the two is not increased over that proposed by the convention," it said.
Mr Cowen pointed out that raising the population threshold would make it easier for the biggest member-states to block proposals, while increasing the number of countries required to approve a measure could impair efficiency.
He said that the presidency was considering a number of mechanisms to address such potential difficulties.
The Irish presidency suggested that the impact of an abstention - which currently amounts almost to a negative vote - could be limited and that a minimum number of countries could be required to form a blocking minority.
Yesterday's meeting discussed the prospect of a reference to the Christian tradition in the constitution after seven member-states wrote to the presidency asking for the issue to be raised.
The draft constitution refers to Europe's "cultural, religious and humanist inheritance", with no specific mention of Christianity.
Mr Cowen said he hoped it would be possible to refer to Europe's Christian tradition as a historical fact while making clear that the state remained secular.
"It is not a question of seeking to undermine the secularism of the state, which is very important to some member-states. We need a preamble with which all our people can identify It is a question of making a historical reference," he said.
The ministers also discussed the possibility of raising the minimum number of MEPs sent by each country from four to five or six but diplomats from bigger countries said such a move would have to be accompanied by an increase in the total size of the European Parliament.