Chirac and Ahern believe EU constitution close

EU leaders appeared increasingly confident today that the EU’s first constitution can be adopted soon despite months of acrimonious debate over how to share out power in the bloc.

French President Jacques Chirac said a deal could be struck when 25 EU leaders meet for their midyear summit in Brussels, six months after the last major drive to break the deadlock ended in high-profile failure.

“We are determined to all we can to conclude the institutional reform at the meeting on June 17, 18,” Chirac said in Paris after talks with the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, who holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

The talks fell apart in December when Spain and Poland united to block a deal on voting rights within the Union which they said would give too much power to the four biggest EU nations – Germany, Britain, France and Italy.

With feelings running high, EU officials predicted it could take many months before governments would be ready to reopen substantive, high-level talks on the charter and an agreed looked unlikely before the end of this year.

However, following the change of government in Spain and signs that Poland may be willing to compromise, EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels were optimistic a deal may be reached earlier.

“The challenges facing Europeans require an effective democratic and strong Europe,” said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

“My impression is that increasingly all involved realize that and therefore I feel a little optimism.”

A first test of the apparent new spirit of compromise will come this week when EU leaders meet on Thursday and Friday for talks due to focus on the bloc’s response to the threat from terrorism following the bomb attacks in Madrid that killed 202 people.

Ahern said he would present his fellow leaders a report on Thursday on the state of play in the negotiations. Speaking in Paris, he too was optimistic a deal could be done by June.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the terrorist attacks in Madrid underscored the need for a constitution that would bind European nations more closely together.

“Look at what’s going on internationally, you see a rise in violence, in terrorism, so it’s evident that Europe has to reinforce its vision,” he said.

The constitution is seen as vital to improve the effectiveness of the bloc’s decision-making process when the bloc’s membership swells from 15 to 25 with the entry of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Malta on May 1.

France and Germany are pushing a reform of the EU’s complex voting system to ensure most decisions can be taken by a simple majority of the 25 nations – if they represent 60% of the Union’s 450 million population.

Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller and the outgoing Spanish Premier Jose Maria Aznar feared that would give the big four too much power and demanded safeguards.

However, Socialist leader Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who defeated Aznar in the March 14 elections, has suggested he’s more open to the Franco-German plan.

Miller said over the weekend that Poland may also be ready to compromise.

“We confirm our declaration of readiness to seek a reasonable compromise,” he said. “You must mature to reach a compromise and time is working to the advantage of all parties involved.”