Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Poland threatens EU constitution veto

|
|
 
  
Published: Dec. 11, 2003 at 9:45 AM

BERLIN, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Poland threatened Thursday to vote against the European Union constitution at the weekend summit in Brussels, the BBC reported.

Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski met with Germany's chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, to defend Poland's position against proposals that distribution of votes in the European Commission should be proportional to the size of population of member states.

Under current rules, Poland and Spain have almost as many votes as countries such as Germany and France, which have much bigger populations.

"If the position is what is in the treaty, without the chance for compromise, we cannot say yes," Kwasniewski told the BBC.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said Wednesday he had a plan to break the deadlock, but would not reveal it yet.

The dispute centers on a promise won by Poland and Spain at the Nice summit in 2000, giving them 27 votes each on Europe's powerful Council of Ministers.

That compares with 29 for Germany, which has double the population.

Topics: Aleksander Kwasniewski, Gerhard Schroeder
© 2003 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Top News Stories
1 of 20
Singer Janelle Monae arrives at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California
View Caption
Singer Janelle Monae arrives for the MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
The bar for spelling has never been lowre
Turns out men cheat way more than women after all
Famous last words: "The notion that it's too late to do anything is comical. It's hilarious. We're...
Five secrets to getting the best healthcare. #6: Don't get sick
Traveling to the U.S.? If invited to a dinner party, bring a gift of wine, but not cash or toiletries...
Man turns dead pet cat into remote-controlled helicopter, calls it art (w/WTF pics)