Deadlocked EU talks force extension of Nice summit

By Robin Oakley, CNN.com European Political Editor

NICE, France -- European Union leaders meeting in Nice are headed into a fourth day of talks still locked in bitter argument over how to streamline EU institutions to cope with the enlargement of the bloc.

Officials were working overnight in search of the re-drafting adjustments to make a breakthrough, but tempers were fraying.

Other countries, particularly the smaller EU nations who feared a carve-up which would diminish their clout, picked holes in the first negotiating document produced by French President Jacques Chirac.

As the current holder of the rotating EU Presidency he is the man under pressure to produce a result.

Jaime Gama, the Portuguese Foreign Minister, said that the initial French Presidency proposals were “humiliating” for smaller nations.

VIDEO CNN's Patricia Kelly reports on France's bold attempt to break a European deadlock Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    REFERENCE   •  Summit preview   •  Main sticking point   •  Chirac's salvation?   •  On the agenda   •  What do they want?   •  Votes vs. population   •  Jargon glossary   •  EU enlargement map   •  History of EU growth   •  What kind of Europe?   •  France's EU presidency   •  In-depth: Changing face of Europe   •  Message board

The Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis opposed the plans for re-weighting of national votes “because it is clear it represents an effort to create a directorate of big countries.”

The leaders are agreed that if an enlarged EU is to be able to function, they have to slim the EU’s executive, the European Commission, which currently has 20 members, and also re-weight national votes on the decision-making Council of Ministers in order that they better reflect the size of their populations

They also recognise the need to curb the number of EU decisions subject to veto by individual countries in favour of more “qualified majority voting” (QMV).

But with no decisions on any of these matters agreed, some feverish negotiating has to be done.

On the European Commission, the French Presidency document proposes that from 2005 it should consist of one commissioner from each member state -- which could be up to 21 by then.

From 2010, or when the Union reaches 27 states, the Commission would drop to 20 members, with member states rotating equally.

On the weighting of national votes, the French have set out a table which ignores a call from Germany for extra votes to reflect its 20 million larger population.

The table also ignores the demand from the Netherlands (population 15 million) to have more votes than Belgium (population 10 million) and from Spain to have parity with the big four (France, Germany, Italy and the UK).

In a clear bid to win round the Germans to a compromise, the French document proposes a significant increase in the number of German members in the European Parliament.

On the issues of Qualified Majority Voting the complicated document perseveres with a call for QMV to be extended to taxation matters, although that is opposed by the UK, Ireland and Denmark.

It also urges a move to QMV on regional funding issues by 2007 -- but that is opposed by Spain and others.

There is no provision in the French document for the further Inter Governmental Conference in 2004 to make more changes in the EU constitution which is being sought by the Germans.

The strains of the negotiation are beginning to show with accusations from some other delegations that the French Presidency is proving to be “more French than Presidency” (that President Chirac is being less than judicial).

Chirac himself has been involved in a spat with Romano Prodi, the European Commission President, whom he called “a little bureaucrat” after Prodi insisted on access for one of his officials to bring him papers.

Normally the bilateral negotiating sessions with individual EU leaders are conducted jointly by the nation holding the Presidency and by the Commission President.

On this occasion Chirac acted alone and Prodi retaliated by having his own separate meetings.

The UK is opposing QMV on taxation, social security, defence, border controls, EU finance and treaty amendments.

Germany and France are against extending QMV into immigration matters and France is determined to protect its rights on international trade with a veto.

Spain does not want to cede the national veto on regional funding nor the Greeks on transport affairs which could affect the country’s ferry businesses.

Robin Cook, the British Foreign Secretary, reiterated on Saturday morning that Britain would stick by its refusal to abandon the national veto on taxation matters. Saying that Britain’s position had been clear for nine months, he added: “We are not bluffing.”

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