Europe's Future
June 21, 2007
The European Union on Thursday opened tough talks on a new treaty, with German Chancellor Angel Merkel calling for an end to bickering among the bloc's 27 leaders.
"People in Europe and all over the world expect us to bring this to a fruitful conclusion," said Merkel, who is chairing the summit. Germany ends its six-month stint as EU president at the end of June.
EU leaders will spend the next two days -- expected to stretch into three days -- trying to agree on the outlines of a new "reform" or amended treaty to replace a draft constitution vetoed by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
But signalling hours of hard bargaining ahead, outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair insisted he would not tone down key demands for changes in the treaty proposals drawn up Merkel.
"This is going to be a very tough negotiation," Blair said as he came into the meeting.
However, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, a backer of the original draft constitution, said he would not agree to a treaty that "lacks substance."
Polish President Lech Kaczynski made no comments as he greeted Merkel. But Poland's demands for an overhaul of EU voting rights has emerged as a major headache for Merkel's efforts to clinch a treaty deal at the summit.
Click on the links below to find out more about the diverging views and issues at stake.