No progress at EU constitution summit

Florida Statesman Saturday 13th December, 2003

European Union leaders entered a second day of talks Saturday aimed at drawing up the bloc's first-ever constitution with few optimistic of a deal.

With little sign of progress on the thorny issue of voting rights late Friday, Luxembourg Premier Jean Claude Juncker said: We haven't got anywhere, and I'm very skeptical about the possibility of getting an agreement on a text.

A series of late-night meetings between EU chair Silvio Berlusconi and the leaders of Poland and Spain -- the two countries refusing to sign up to a simpler voting system -- failed to make any breakthrough. A planned dinner between the EU's 15 heads of state, together with the 10 countries due to join in May, was cancelled to make way for head-to-head talks.

Berlusconi will present a compromise text Saturday, with talks expected to continue well into Sunday.