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EU leaders clash at treaty summit
ROME, Italy -- The leaders of the 15 European Union members and 10 countries due to join next year have clashed at a meeting in Rome to discuss a draft treaty for the bloc. The new constitution is an attempt to streamline the operation of the enlarged community -- but many smaller nations worry it reduces their influence and are expected to demand changes. Meanwhile outside the summit venue anti-globalization demonstrators set fire to an employment agency, smashed cars and windows. (Full Story) Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, opened Saturday's one-day summit in the Palazzo dei Congresi by urging leaders not to put their individual national interests above the common good. He also appealed to countries to avoid trying to renegotiate the voting system agreed in June by 105 politicians, led by ex-French President Valery Giscard D'Estaing, after 16 months of debate. His draft would see most EU policy decisions taken by a majority of member states -- representing 60 percent of the bloc's 450 million citizens. It also plans for an EU president, foreign ministers, a structured defense policy and moves to block vetoes that cause bureaucratic deadlock. European Parliament President Pat Cox echoed Berlusconi's plea, warning that if leaders try to unpick the convention's work they could jeopardize the treaty and "end up with a miserable lowest common denominator," Reuters reported. Poland and Spain want to keep the current complex voting system agreed at the Nice summit in 2000, which gives them an influence disproportionate to their populations. Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said the voting system should not even be discussed for another five years. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar complained that the convention had exceeded its mandate by trying to rewrite the voting rules. The Giscard D'Estaing draft also proposes cutting the EU's executive, the European Commission, to 15 from 20 now and 25 next year. Many of the new members, most from the former Communist bloc, fear this will reduce their influence.
The draft allows for greater integration of member states' defense forces. But countries close to Washington, such as Britain and Poland, see this as a challenge to NATO's role, while neutral states fear it would militarize the EU. CNN's Rome Bureau Chief Alessio Vinci said: "No major decision is expected soon. The tough bargaining is likely to last until mid-December -- Berlusconi hopes for a signing ceremony in Rome by mid next year." He added: "But even then the constitution will be far from a done deal. "Each nation's parliament will have to ratify it, and some countries are suggesting they would call for a referendum. "A 'No' vote in just one country could stall the whole process. "If all goes well Europe could have its first constitution by 2006, if not, it's back to the negotiating table." Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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