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LUXEMBOURG - Poland has formally told its European Union partners it can't accept a reformed voting system enshrined in the defunct EU constitution, raising the prospect of a crisis at a crucial summit later this week.
Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga told reporters her position after EU Foreign Ministers discussed a new treaty that retains the constitution's key institutional reforms.
"The double-majority system as defined within the constitutional treaty, we cannot accept that."
Diplomats said Fotyga's tough 30-minute speech dashed hopes that Warsaw was starting to soften its stance after weekend talks between President Lech Kaczynski and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Poland contends the reformed decision-making procedure gives too much weight at Warsaw's expense to big countries, especially Germany, aggravating suspicion of its western neighbour that still runs deep 62 years after World War II.
Under the reform, most decisions would require the support of 55 per cent of member states, representing 65 per cent of the population.
- REUTERS
