Poland outlines compromises for agreement on EU constitution
God could be included in an introduction rather than in the preamble or body of the constitution while Poland will accept a double majority voting system with a blocking minority clause.
At a major conference in the Presidential Palace, President Aleksander Kwasniewski said his country must learn to compromise and see it as a virtue rather than a sin.
Poland and Spain's main difficulty with the constitution is the number of votes they would have under the current proposal as it reduces the proportion they have under the Nice Treaty.
Mr Kwasniewski said Poland will accept the double majority system provided that a specific number of countries representing a specific share of the EU's population can block a proposal being voted through.
"We can accept the double majority provided we have a blocking minority clause, but a constructive blocking minority," he said, referring to the fear that such a minority vote would make it very difficult to reach agreement on anything.
He said Poland was currently working on figures to ensure no alliance of all small countries or all large countries could block decisions. "We want to make sure we get a deal comparable to what we have under Nice," he added.
He said they were prepared to concede on having a reference to Europe's Christian heritage in the preamble but wanted it in some additional text.
"We are very much on your side on that," he said, referring to the Taoiseach's assertion that he would like to see a reference to God in the constitution. "We don't need it in the text or the preamble but maybe in an introduction to the document," he said.
Polish minister of state in the Prime Minister's office, Prof Tadeusz Iwinski, said the reference need not be limited to acknowledging Europe's Christian heritage but could also refer to Judaism and Islam.
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