New treaty fails to meet expectations

EUROPE'S leaders early this morning reached agreement on a new treaty. But disappointed diplomats said that the deal fell far short of both expectations and the requirements of enlarging the Union.

Earlier Ireland and Britain successfully fought off any hint of a commitment to an EU merger with the Western European Union.

But the summit later ran into deadlock when Dutch Presidency attempts to reform the institutions ran into a wall of opposition from member-states.

Some challenged the delicate compromise for reweighting the votes of member-states, while Germany gave the hopes for an ambitious treaty the coup de grace by blocking any serious erosion of veto voting.

In the end reform of the size of the Commission and the reweighting of votes was put off until enlargement begins, while the prospects of extending majority voting looked even bleaker.

From Ireland's point of view, however, there were a few crumbs of comfort in the success on the WEU, at the same time as agreement on a peacekeeping role for the Union, on the form of opt-out from the newly incorporated Schengen Treaty on passport-free Europe, and in treaty provisions on jobs and social exclusion.

The failure to reach agreement on the Commission leaves Ireland with its seat at the table.

And in a surprise late addition to the treaty citizens were given the right to correspond with the Union's institutions, and get a reply, in the 12 treaty languages, Irish included

The final day of the IGC's two years' work started with frayed tempers as Belgians accused the Dutch Presidency of undermining the more ambitious hopes of those in favour of greater integration. Their respective Prime Ministers, Mr Jean Luc Dehaene and Mr Wim Kok, are understood to have clashed bitterly at dinner on Monday night.

The charge was repeated again during the summit session by the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Romano Prodi, of the British Prime Minister, Mr Blair, and of Germnay's Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Italian sources say that Mr Prodi's vehemence so took Mr Kohl aback that he later sought a special bilateral meting between the two.

Mr Kohl early this morning had to plead with the Spanish Prime Minister, Mr Jose Aznar, not to let agreement slip from their grasp as the Spanish manoeuvered for extra votes.

There was deep disappointment, being expressed by many diplomats over the last-minute decision of the Germans, to insist on no ending to unanimity voting on asylum and immigration issues, and on a range of issues from environment to industry. In the end only research and development would join the list of majority voting issues.

With some 12 countries of central and eastern Europe queuing up to join the Union, five of them with prospects in the next five years, questions must now be posed about the seriousness of the Union's political will to enlarge. Last night's half-heated agreement will be viewed with some concern in the applicants' ranks.

The summit agreed that the treaty will be formally signed before October 1st after which it will have to be ratified at national level, in Ireland by referendum.