NAPLES (Italy) Nov 30: EU foreign ministers made more progress than some expected in tough weekend talks on a new constitution for the bloc, but the central battle on voting power among member states seemed no closer to solution.

“As far as discussion on the institutions went, we chalked up advances that exceeded our expectations,” said Franco Frattini, host of the talks as foreign minister of Italy, holder of the European Union’s rotating presidency.

The constitution, which must be ratified by all 15 member states and the 10 countries that join next May, will be a rule book for the enlarged EU, enabling it to function smoothly as it expands eastwards and its population swells to 450 million.

Ministers were most upbeat at almost clinching agreement on common defence arrangements — an area fraught with tension since the Iraq war, given Washington’s suspicion of EU intentions and divisions among European states.

However, Poland and Spain stuck to their guns in rejecting a crucial reform of the EU’s weighted voting system, which gives them both disproportionate power, and Britain suggested the problem could be kicked down the road for several years.

For the EU’s founder members, especially Germany which stands to gain most from the proposed change to a simpler system reflecting states’ populations, that would be a disaster.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and his Belgian counterpart, Louis Michel, said they left Naples more worried after the first real negotiating session on this core dispute.

Italy wants the negotiations wrapped up before the end of the year, when Ireland takes over the presidency, but just two weeks before the decisive EU summit the timetable is tight.

Frattini said ministers came close to a deal on the size of the bloc’s executive Commission, leaning towards the majority of smaller countries that want one commissioner per member state.

This runs against the wishes of a Convention of lawmakers and national representatives which drew up a first constitution draft, calling for a leaner, more efficient executive.

Ministers also agreed to boost the number of seats in the European Parliament for the smallest states, and worked out a complex arrangement for “team presidencies”, establishing how future EU meetings would be chaired.

“There was an undoubted breakthrough on defence,” Michel said after the talks on Saturday. “It’s easier to see the space for a compromise on the other points.”

Nato defence ministers, including Donald Rumsfeld of the United States, meet in Brussels on Monday. They are likely to debate the EU’s plans for a mutual defence clause that now emphasises Nato’s primacy and “structured cooperation” among a core group of European states focused on military capabilities.

A week later, on December 8, EU foreign ministers will have to address again the last big bone of contention in the draft text — how to divide up powers within the bloc.

The Italian presidency favours the solution on voting rights put forward by the Convention, whereby most decisions would be taken by a “double majority” — at least half of member states, representing at least 60 per cent of the EU’s population.—Reuters