Poles to EU: Nope

Poles smudge EU agreement before the ink has even dried
A deal on Europe’s future, stitched together at last week’s bad-tempered summit, began to unravel yesterday after the intervention of the EU’s most unpredictable leader.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Polish Prime Minister, who sent his brother Lech, the President, to the summit, stunned Brussels by declaring his determination to renegotiate the compromise. The twins spent much of last week’s detailed negotiations on the phone to each other and Lech had said that his brother was content with the package. But Jaroslaw, who demanded extra voting power for Poland, insisted yesterday that the deal had not taken full account of Poland’s demands.

Now he wants a permanent mechanism that allows a minority of dissenting states to be able to delay EU decisions for up to two years. His latest outburst has alarmed EU leaders, who were hoping for a trouble-free passage to a final text in October and a signing ceremony in December. An Inter-Governmental Conference will open on July 23, with representatives from all 27 EU nations to write the EU reform treaty, which critics say will be a thinly disguised version of the failed EU constitution.

With general agreement on the contents, all seemed to be going smoothly until Jaroslaw Kaczynski, referring to the deal to delay new voting weights for each country, said: “We have to finally resolve this issue at the Inter-Governmental Conference.” The European Commission responded furiously. “This was clearly settled at the European Council last week,” a spokesman said. “A mandate is a mandate and a deal is a deal. Now it is time for IGC to finish its job.

The Dutch and le Froggies gave you a mandate two years ago; and that was to shove the EU constitution up your brain.

Portugal, which takes over the EU’s rotating presidency from Germany tomorrow, said: “There was a deal at the highest level and we hope that deal will be respected.” A German government spokesman added: “The outcome of the summit was unanimously backed and Poland agreed to it.”

Ahhh, the European Commission is furious with Poland. They got their jaws tight over Iran, too.

Expect an Up yours! to be sent from Warsaw to Brussels, perhaps via Berlin, in the near future. Then the EU/EC can send the Poles the tried and true s t e r n l y ... w o r d e d ... l e t t e r.
Then the Fwench - led by the ever-intrepid Koslings - can spring into action and surrender save the day.

Previously on JWF

As The Truth Emerges

Get out and sharpen the pitchforks.

You're stuck with Blair's EU deal, says Portugal
Gordon Brown will find his hands tied as it becomes clearer and clearer that Tony Blair's European Union treaty deal resurrects the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago.

The incoming Portuguese EU presidency, which takes over the six-month rotating job from Germany this weekend, has made it clear that the new British Prime Minister is bound by the mandate agreed by Mr Blair last week.

Portugal wants a quick treaty finish and will hold Mr Brown to the 15-page text, backed up by as yet unpublished legal documents signed by Mr Blair and regarded as binding for his successor.

"We do have a clear, precise and detailed mandate handed down to us. We believe that the conditions and guidelines are set out to us in that mandate," said Portugal's Europe Minister, Manuel Lobo Antunes, yesterday. "We will be sticking strictly to the terms we have been given."

Mr Brown is stuck with a deal that he must defend against opposition calls - and a Telegraph campaign, now signed by more than 1,300 people - for a referendum.

The Prime Minister has not been helped by EU leaders, such as Germany's Angela Merkel, lining up to boast that the new "amending treaty" is the old constitution in a new form. "The substance of the constitution is preserved," Mrs Merkel told MEPs on Wednesday. "That is a fact."

Labour MEPs have pleaded, on behalf of Downing Street, with EU institutions to downplay elements of the constitution to help the Government domestically "undersell" the deal to avoid a referendum.

But the pleas have fallen on deaf ears and the drip, drip of opinions, especially those rubbishing the legal force of Britain's opt-outs, will continue throughout the summer.

Formal treaty negotiations begin on July 23 and will mainly be conducted in secret, an arrangement primarily put in place to help Mr Brown. Foreign ministers will discuss a 150-page "draft treaty text" in the Viana do Castelo, Portugal, on Sept 7.

Cowardly bastards.

Paying attention, Jerusalem? This is the asshat being sent to secure peace in our time, just as another British asshat claimed after delivering then-Czechoslovakia to the Austrian corporal.

There's more. Much more.

EU Summit: View From The Czech Lands

Although he's an avowed Eurosceptic, President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, the most trusted political leader, is often 'misunderestimated' by international media and the renowned foreign leaders Jean-Pierre had hallucinatory delusional conversations with.

Such misunderestimations continue to be made because Klaus will sometimes be rather forceful with his opinions; and at other times will somewhat understate his position.

Czech president welcomes summit brake on EU super state
(PRAGUE) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus cautiously welcomed the outcome of the EU's summit on Sunday, saying that a brake had been put on moves towards creating a European super state.

"This train that was before heading ever faster in one direction has to some extent braked and slowed down and we can try to get it moving somewhere else. This is a great victory for which we can all be thankful," Klaus said in an interview on the Czech commercial broadcaster Prima.

Klaus added that it was "a victory for reason" that moves towards the creation of a European super state enshrined in the former constitution had been blocked.

But he cautioned that some basic formulations from that treaty, derailed by French and Dutch referendum rebuffs in 2005, had still found their way into the text of the new agreement about the future functioning of the EU hammered out by European leaders on Saturday.

"Of course, I still have some fears that some of the (summit) changes might be more cosmetic than fundamental," he said, adding that German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier had reportedly declared the summit a victory because the basis of the constitution had been saved.

Klaus, a former right-wing prime minister, founder of the Civic Democratic Party and admirer of former British premier Margaret Thatcher, said he had only had a chance to read the 66-page preliminary conclusions of the summit in English.

Because Klaus is a firm believer in the free-market economic model, he is branded a right-winger, [Nazi, wink, wink]. Someday, but obviously not today, the MSM will exercise some intellectual and journalistic integrity and admit that the Austrian corporal and his minions were avowed Socialists.

Klaus sidestepped a question of whether Czechs should vote in a referendum on the new agreement, cautioning that it would be difficult to boil down the summit's conclusion into one question to put to voters.

"I hope, however, that there will be a serious public discussion about this," he added.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said on Saturday that he did not think a referendum should be held on the new EU agreement, adding though that parliament would have to decide.

The new EU constitution treaty must be ratified by all 27 member states. Given the statement by Irish Premier Bertie Ahern that Ireland would hold a referendum and the outrage in Britain over Tony Blair's transition to French Poodle, methinks ye olde pig will first take flight.

The Gloves Have Come Off

This is really getting to be fun.

Poland invokes Nazi occupation to bolster EU case

European leaders today gathered in Brussels for a bruising battle over the future of Europe, with Britain and Poland, the two main obstacles to a deal on a new treaty on how the EU is run, pledging no surrender on their key demands.

Under the chairmanship of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the leaders of 27 states launched an attempt to hammer out a consensus on a "reform treaty" replacing the defunct European constitution.

As Germany sought to lower expectations about a breakthrough after six months of closed-door negotiations on the new deal, Tony Blair announced he was prepared to walk away from the Brussels summit if Britain's four key demands were not met.

Poland, meanwhile, raised old grievances about Germany from the second world war to try to bolster its case for a "fairer" voting system in running the EU.

The Polish prime minister, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, made the extraordinary claim that it would be eligible for more votes in the EU if the Nazis had not invaded Poland in 1939.

Funny how an inconvenient truth is considered as merely extraordinary.

------ ker-snip ------Mr Kaczynski's statement meanwhile laid bare the strength of the anti-German emotion underpinning the Polish position.

Under current arrangements dating from 2000, Germany has 29 votes to Poland's 27 in EU councils, the ministerial level meetings of member states.

The new system is based on population sizes, and gives Germany more than double the Polish vote. The Poles are incensed and are demanding a new way of calculating votes that would diminish German "hegemony".

"If Poland had not had to live through the years of 1939-45, Poland would be today looking at the demographics of a country of 66 million," Mr Kaczynski said.

The Polish prime minister again threatened to "veto" agreement at the summit today. But he also appeared to leave himself room for a climbdown.

"The situation still does not satisfy us," Mr Kaczynski told the Warsaw newspaper, Rzeczpospolita.

"We should do everything to push through our proposal or to obtain some other solution that would equally satisfy our ambitions. Either we obtain that, or there will be a veto."

Some climbdown.

More like an "Up yours!"

Polish Diplomat Speaks Out

As Thursday's beginning of the European Union summit draws ever near, those pesky New Europe folks in Poland continue to seek a novel concept within the EU . . . equality among member states.

We Aren't Idiots
Mariusz Muszynski, the 43-year-old commissioner for Polish-German relations in the Polish Foreign Ministry discusses the Warsaw-Berlin impasse on the successor treaty to the failed EU constitution. He also accuses Germany of being more concerned with consolidating its own power than EU unity.

The Poles kind of have more than a little knowledge about such things.

The Polish government has thrown a wrench into German Chancellor Angela Merkel's efforts to jump-start the European Union's long-stagnant constitutional process with its adamant rejection of the "double majority" voting system that is currently outlined in the EU treaty. Despite a weekend of shuttle diplomacy that saw Merkel trying to persuade Polish President Lech Kacyznksi to come on board, Poland appears prepared to veto the landmark agreement at the EU summit in Brussels this Thursday and Friday that will be hosted by Merkel.

Warsaw is demanding a replacement of the proposed decision-making system of the European Council, which allocates votes in proportion to the population of member states, with an alternative "square root" system, which would increase Poland's voting weight in relation to its more populous EU neighbors like Germany and France.

------ ker-snip ------

Our concerns regard the distribution of power within the EU and our ability to influence the EU's development. Reforms, on the contrary, are material areas. Why should Poland agree to a decrease in its influence? We aren't idiots. Anyone surprised by the fact that we would like to increase our influence should not be engaged in politics.

Such mishegas, Polish logic!

There's more. And this diplomat minces no words.

Will They Get It?

More bad news for Angela Merkel, Tony Blair and Nicolas Sarkozy.

Voters in five west countries want referendum on EU treaty
Strong majorities of voters in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain want their governments to put any reworked EU constitutional treaty to a referendum, according to a poll published Monday.

The Harris Interactive Survey in the Financial Times business daily showed that 75 percent of Spaniards, 71 percent of Germans, 69 percent of Britons, 68 percent of Italians and 64 percent of French want the EU treaty that emerges from a Brussels summit later this week to be put to a public vote.

Voters also responded negatively to the idea of having a full-time EU president replace the current system of rotating six-month presidencies, with just 46 percent of those with an opinion supporting the idea.

Just 14 percent of Britons supported the proposal, while 54 percent of Spaniards were behind it.

A proposal for a new EU foreign minister post received more backing, however, with a total of 77 percent of those voicing an opinion saying they supported the proposal.

Again, Britain was the least keen on the idea, with 41 percent supporting it, while 81 percent of Italians were supportive.

Support for further EU enlargement -- particularly the addition of Turkey to the bloc -- was low, with none of the five countries in which respondents were questioned producing a majority in favour of further enlargement.

On the question of Turkey joining the EU, 71 percent of French voters and 66 percent of Germans opposed the idea.

Harris Interactive questioned 1,025 Britons, 1,014 Germans, 1,012 French, 1,090 Italians and 1,010 Spaniards over the Internet between May 31 and June 12 for the survey.

Interesting numbers, considering the EU constitution amending treaty was supposed to have been a done deal.

The poll also asked the question, "Which one, if any, of the following countries do you think is the greatest threat to global stability?"

Sorry, but you'll have to scroll the poll to see the results.

When Grand Plans Unravel

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made it one of the goals of her European Union presidency to get the bloc's stalled constitution back on track. However Poland, worried about losing influence under new voting rules, has apparently made it a goal to stop her. And after a weekend of intensive diplomacy, Merkel seems to be no further forward, just days before a crunch EU summit where the treaty will be approved -- or not.

Merkel even admitted on Sunday after talks with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker that it wasn't impossible that the summit, which will take place Thursday and Friday in Brussels, will fail. She said that as current EU president she would naturally do her best to make sure that it succeeds, but that "a presidency can only be as successful as the willingness to compromise on the part of all the states."

Merkel had spent much of the weekend trying to persuade Poland to soften its position on the treaty's new voting system. She met with Polish President Lech Kaczynski at the German government's guesthouse, Schloss Meseberg, near Berlin Saturday and followed that up with a phone call on Sunday. However she made no progress.

"The positions have not changed," she said Sunday in reference to her conversation with Kaczynski, and said there were "serious problems" which still needed to be solved.

Kaczynski too said after the meeting that both sides were sticking to their guns. "I told the chancellor that the solution we have proposed is already a compromise," Kaczynski said in a statement broadcast by Polish television after the meeting.

Merkel has made it one of her main objectives for her EU presidency -- which runs until the end of June -- to resurrect the bloc's constitution which has been on ice since the Dutch and French populations rejected it in referenda in 2005.

Merkel is hoping to get approval for a revised EU constitution -- which will now be called a "treaty" -- at the summit this week. Germany wants the EU governments to agree to a roadmap to allow a slimmed-down treaty to be ratified by 2009.

If the draft treaty is adopted, the EU voting process will be changed so that it will be easier to make decisions in the expanded 27-member bloc. A new "double majority" voting system will be introduced whereby an EU decision has to be approved by 55 percent of the EU states, which must also represent 65 percent of the bloc's entire population.

The new system will significantly decrease Poland's influence -- and increase Germany's. Poland's population only comprises about 8 percent of the EU total of 490 million, compared to Germany's 17 percent.

Unsurprisingly, Poland, worried about losing power relative to its neighbor, is opposing the new system. It is threatening to use its veto at the summit this week to block any agreement on the treaty, and wants to re-open the discussion on how the voting system will work. It has proposed an alternative "square root" system which would base the number of votes on the square root of a country's population -- and give Poland relatively more clout vis-à-vis Germany.

The issue is seen as a potential dealbreaker at this week's crunch summit, which politicians had been hoping might lift the EU out of the doldrums it has been in since the constitution stalled. Merkel rejected the suggestion Sunday that the issue of the voting system could be excluded from this week's summit and left for detailed negotiations later in the year. "I do not see that as an option," she said.

Germany demanding appeasement from smaller states.

Blair and Sarkozy in a sweetheart deal.

And Gordon Brown apparently having at least some of the intestinal fortitude of Sir Winston.

I love it when a plan coms together.

When Secret Plans Go Awry

Incoming British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is readying the nuclear option.

Gordon Brown defied Tony Blair last night by making clear he is prepared to give the British people a referendum on plans to resurrect the European constitution.

Geoff Hoon, the Minister for Europe, revealed that Mr Brown was ready to stage a national poll if Europe's leaders try to force through a deal that was unacceptable to Britain at this week's EU summit.

Last night, sources close to Mr Brown confirmed his position, with one describing Mr Hoon's comments as a "sensible" analysis of the situation.

Europe's leaders know such a move would kill off any hopes of a treaty because the British people would almost certainly vote it down.

Mr Hoon's intervention comes just two days after Number 10 had explicitly ruled out the need to hold a referendum, despite the Prime Minister's promise three years ago to do so.

It also threatens to reopen divisions between Mr Brown and Mr Blair as they prepare for joint talks with Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, tomorrow.

Can we call Tony Blair a French poodle, yet?

Perfidy Across The Pond

The Cousins are enjoying a media blitz leading up to the EU summit in Brussels later this week.

Tony Blair has been accused of 'knifing' Gordon Brown by holding secret discussions about a job as the first ever President of the European Union.

The Prime Minister was entertained in Paris by new French president Nicolas Sarkozy at an upmarket restaurant called Thiou, where they agreed a joint agenda on Europe.

French political sources have confirmed that President Sarkozy is keen for Mr Blair to take on a full-time paid role as the 'face' of the EU after he quits Downing Street.

But such an appointment would be a disaster for the Chancellor, who has long struggled to escape from the shadow of his political rival.

And Eurosceptic campaigners warn that the prospect of a lucrative post-retirement job in Brussels would compromise Mr Blair's ability to strike a good deal for Britain at this week's European summit, when EU leaders meet to agree a new treaty.

Critics claim this will effectively be a full-scale European Constitution by the back door.

The summit will almost certainly also agree the creation of a new powerful post, President of the European Council.

Neil O'Brian, director of the Open Europe think-tank, said: "The risk is that if Tony Blair has even half an eye on this job he will be more concerned about being a "good European" than fighting for Britain.

"A bad European treaty will be a poison pill for Gordon Brown. The Chancellor has been knifed."

Mr Blair's private dinner with Mr Sarkozy and his wife Cecilia at the Thai restaurant on the banks of the Seine has echoes of a previous restaurant encounter where Mr Brown was outmanoeuvred.

In 1994, at Granita in Islington, Mr Blair is said to have made a deal to hand over power to Mr Brown during his second term, leading to later accusations of betrayal.

The Paris meal, revealed here for the first time, took place on May 11, days after Mr Sarkozy's presidential victory and hours after Mr Blair publicly confirmed his retirement date.

Members of the Democratic Caucus were unavailable for comment.