EU leaders deadlocked over voting system

Germany won’t back down from demanding a realignment of the European Union’s voting system, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said today, underlining a deadlock among EU leaders one week before a summit where they will try to reach an agreement on a new European constitution.

Schroeder spoke after meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who said his country – which holds the rotating EU presidency – wouldn’t push for a deal “at any cost” when leaders of the 15 EU nations and 10 countries that will join next May meet this Friday and Saturday in Brussels.