Brussels, Dec 12: EU leaders launched a crunch summit today aimed at hammering out a first-ever constitution for the expanding bloc, but were facing fierce differences centred on the power-charged issue of voting rights.
Italian Prime Minister and current EU president Silvio Berlusconi, who has said it would take a "miracle" to secure an agreement, declined to elaborate as his EU counterparts arrived for the Brussels summit.
"We are trying," he told reporters shortly before the talks -- which are scheduled to last two days but which some fear could turn into a marathon haggle through the weekend -- got underway.
The summit is designed to agree on a constitution for the European Union that will streamline its decision-making process when it expands next may.
The leaders of the EU's big three -- Britain, France and Germany -- held an hour-long pre-summit breakfast meeting in a Brussels hotel, but said nothing afterwards.
Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson, asked if a deal was possible, said, "Yes I do," adding, "It's not only about Spain and Poland, it's about Germany," which he noted was a key force in the foundation of the European Union.
After nearly two years of haggling, the crux of the disagreement boils down to just one crucial issue – national voting rights within a bloc that will have 450 million inhabitants.
Bureau Report
