Blair's warning over EU summit deadlock

Published on Saturday 13 December 2003 00:00

THE credibility of the European Union was hanging in the balance last night after the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, warned an agreement on the new constitution might not be possible.

Officials did not discount the possibility the summit could break up without the constitution - designed to clarify the rules of the EU ahead of enlargement to 25 states next year - being signed off.

Talks between European leaders in Brussels have stalled over the allocation of votes, with Poland refusing - in the face of German demands - to accept anything that would diminish its influence on the council of ministers.

In a gloomy assessment, the Prime Minister said Berlin and Warsaw were so far apart that it would be "very, very difficult" to satisfy the needs of both countries.

The pessimism was underlined by the Irish premier, Bertie Ahern, who suggested divisions stretched beyond disagreements over voting and the overall position of the European Commission.

"There are not only two issues. As leaders spoke, the issues got longer and longer as we went around the table," said Mr Ahern, whose country takes over the presidency in the new year.

"You won’t get to a position where everything is agreed except two issues. It will be impossible."

With representatives braced for talks to last until the early hours of Sunday morning, Mr Blair made clear a failure to agree would be damaging to the credibility of the European Union.

He said: "The reason why it is important to get an agreement - it may well not be possible - but the reason why it is important to try is that Europe is now to expand to 25 countries: it is going to be the biggest economic market in the world.

"Britain’s vital interests are engaged in making sure, therefore, that this new European Union works effectively."

The Prime Minister, buoyed by the successful deal over European defence capability, reaffirmed his commitment to the red lines - issues such as taxation, foreign policy, social security and the rebate where Britain insists on keeping the national veto.

Mr Blair, who is under pressure to hold a referendum if the constitution is agreed, is confident his "peacemaking" on the voting issue will help Britain win its case.

Although enlargement will still go ahead if the constitution is not agreed, the collapse of the summit would be a disaster for an EU already struggling to retain confidence in its institutions.

Last night, the heads of state were engaged in intense talks at the Inter Governmental Conference (IGC) in an attempt to salvage the reputation of the EU and break the deadlock between Germany and Poland.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, chairing the talks, held a series of "confessionals" with individual heads of state yesterday evening in an attempt to resolve the impasse.

But Poland’s determination not to yield the number of votes it holds on the Council of Ministers was underlined when its prime minister, Leszek Miller, arrived in a wheelchair having fractured his spine in a helicopter crash last week.

An exasperated Mr Berlusconi indicated he was prepared to break off the talks if no agreement were apparent. "If [negotiations] can’t be concluded by Sunday morning, it would be better to continue [talking] than to make a bad deal," he said.

Earlier, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, had said the success of the summit was now a matter "for the Almighty".