EU constitution: The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, appears set to recommend a resumption of formal negotiations on the EU's constitutional treaty at next week's EU summit following signs of compromise from the four countries at the heart of the biggest disagreement, writes Denis Staunton in Brussels
Spain's new prime minister has praised the draft constitutional treaty and indicated that his socialist government will abandon Madrid's objection to a new voting system in the Council of Ministers.
In an article published the day after his surprise election victory, Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero criticised the role of his predecessor, Mr José Maria Aznar, in the collapse of December's EU summit in Brussels and called for an early resumption of formal negotiations on the treaty.
"We want to have a European constitution in 2004 and, in that sense, we hope the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) finishes quickly with the right agreement. This is a priority for the socialists and we are going to play our full part in achieving it," he wrote.
The leading Spanish socialist at the Convention on the Future of Europe, Mr Josep Borrell, predicted yesterday that Mr Zapatero would reverse Spain's policy towards the constitutional treaty and would accept a "double majority" voting system in the Council of Ministers. Other socialist politicians made clear that the new government will not feel bound by Mr Aznar's alliance with Poland over the voting issue.
The Polish government has admitted that it will have to rethink its opposition to the double majority if Spain changes its position. The leaders of France and Germany said yesterday that they wanted an early deal based on a system "as close as possible" to the formula outlined in the draft constitutional treaty - a majority of member-states representing at least 60 per cent of the EU's population.
Writing in the Financial Times yesterday, the Taoiseach said that an early deal is possible if EU leaders have the "collective courage" to set a date for concluding negotiations.
"None of the gaps on any of the issues is so wide that it cannot be closed," he wrote.
Mr Ahern spoke to Mr Zapatero yesterday, congratulating him on his election victory and informing him about the state of negotiations on the constitutional treaty.
If, as expected, the Taoiseach recommends a resumption of formal negotiations next week, the IGC is unlikely to begin until Mr Zapatero's government has taken office, probably after Easter. Any special summit to agree the constitutional treaty would take place after May 1st but probably before June's European Parliament elections.
Irish presidency officials yesterday dismissed suggestions that a final deal could be agreed on the constitutional treaty at next week's EU summit in Brussels. Although the voting issue is the biggest stumbling block to an agreement, up to 20 other issues remain unresolved.
The Taoiseach warned yesterday that failure to find agreement soon could wreck the entire constitutional project.
"If this happened, our credibility, and that of the Union, would be sorely damaged. If we are to prevent a greater sense of drift and scepticism among our citizens, we need to act now," he wrote.