EU leaders approve new treaty

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LISBON, Oct 19 (AFP): EU leaders approved a new treaty early Friday to replace the aborted constitution, after overcoming last-ditch obstacles, the bloc's Portuguese presidency said.
"It's done, there's an agreement," a spokesman for the presidency said after late-night summit talks in Lisbon to hammer out the Reform Treaty, aimed at streamlining the decision-making architecture of the expanding Union.
The treaty, which had been held up notably by wrangling over voting rights for Poland and Italian demands for more MEPs in the European parliament, will be signed on December 13, a diplomat added.
The announcement came after officials confirmed a deal to resolve the Polish and Italian problems.
The Italians were unhappy that under the new treaty they would lose parity in the European parliament with France and Britain.
Under their deal they would be given an extra seat, bringing them up to Britain's level and one seat below France, a European diplomat said.
To avoid going above the 750-seat maximum ordained for the parliament, its president would lose the voting rights which he very rarely exercises.
Details of the Polish deal were not immediately available. Warsaw had threatened to veto a deal on the treaty if it did not give authority to the so- called "Ioannina" mechanism, named after the Greek city where it was agreed upon, which allows a minority of nations to temporarily block EU decisions.
By endorsing the new treaty, the European Union would end the political impasse that has dogged the 27-nation bloc since French and Dutch voters rejected a proposed EU constitution in 2005 referendums.