EU leaders gather in Brussels for key treaty summit

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BRUSSELS, Jun 21 (AFP): A crucial EU summit aimed at outlining a new treaty to reform the institutions of the 27-member bloc opens here Thursday, with Polish and British objections threatening to scupper an agreement.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel formally invited her fellow EU leaders to the two-day summit with the message that "the European public now expects us to put the necessary reforms of the Union in hand."
However the Polish position remains "unchanged, we have not seen any accommodation," a spokesman for the German EU presidency said in Berlin Wednesday.
Poland strongly objects to the voting system proposed by Germany, a key plank of Berlin's blueprint for a new treaty to replace the EU's constitution which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 referendums.
Warsaw believes "double majority" voting, under which agreement by 55 per cent of member states representing 65 per cent of the EU population would be required for decisions, would favour big states like Germany at the expense of the small and medium-sized member states.
EU Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso held an hour-long telephone conversation with Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski Wednesday seeking a compromise.
"The veto remains highly likely," Kaczynski told Polish public television, adding that it would be "suicide" to give in.
Both the prime minister and his identical twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, have claimed Poland is "willing to die" to defend its corner.
Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga however said Wednesday she was "cautiously optimistic" a deal could be reached on the key issue of voting rights.
Britain, the other major opponent to some of Merkel's suggestions, was still talking tough Wednesday.
"If it comes down to deal or no deal at this European Council the UK government is clear... no deal is better than buying any old pig in a poke," Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said.