Poles want EU constitution by June

THE chances of the European Constitution being finished during the Irish presidency got a boost from the Poles yesterday when their Foreign Minister said he would like to see it agreed before June.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, in Berlin to deliver a lecture, increased the pressure on his fellow EU leaders by warning them delaying agreement could see the constitution becoming embroiled in other details.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fisher, who spoke to the Taoiseach at the event, played down the row over a two-speed Europe and said it was not something Germany wanted.