December 1, 2003	Monday	Shawwal 6, 1424

LONDON, Nov 30: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said on Sunday London would block a European Union constitution unless a proposal to allow foreign policy decisions to be taken by majority vote was dropped.

Italy, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, has proposed that foreign policy decisions be taken by majority vote when they are proposed by a new EU foreign minister to be created under the plan, stripping individual states of their veto.

“There’s a proposal on the table but we simply won’t agree to the draft constitution if there is qualified majority voting concerning the policy of the Union in respect of foreign affairs,” Straw said in an interview with BBC Radio broadcast on Sunday.

“The position is clear, we either take out qualified majority voting on foreign policy or we don’t want a deal,” said Straw, speaking following a weekend of tough talks in Naples over a new constitution being drawn up for an enlarged EU bloc.

Straw said he felt member states were reaching a consensus that it would be best to wrap up negotiations over the constitution as soon as possible but that an enlarged bloc could still function next year if no deal was reached.

“There is a sense....that we’d not gain anything by allowing the intergovernmental conference to drift into next year,” he said. “We want to see a modernised constitution provided our key concerns are met. If not, it will be adjourned until next year and life will go on.”

He said existing arrangements were not satisfactory for an enlarged EU of 25 members but “we’d simply have to make it work”.—Reuters