ITALY: The Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi, has suggested the Nice voting rules could be retained for an extra two years to overcome proposed Polish resistance to a new EU voting system.
Polish newspapers said Mr Berlusconi suggested that the Nice voting system, favoured by the Poles and scheduled to apply until 2009, should be retained for another two or three years.
He also suggested that the so-called double majority rule in the Council of Ministers should be altered to require a simple majority of countries with two-thirds of the total EU population, rather than the current three-fifths of the population.
Other reported compromises made during talks between the Italian and Polish leaders last week in Warsaw included the suggestion of extra MEPs or a second European Commissioner for Poland from 2009.
Italian officials declined to comment on the reports; however a close aide to Mr Berlusconi said the details were not incorrect. "The fact is that all issues are connected to each other and it is too early to go into details. We are working with the bilaterals at the moment so there are no definitive suggestions yet."
Italy holds the European Union presidency and sees the compromise as a way to overcome Poland's steadfast refusal to modify the terms under which it agreed to join the EU.
Polish officials said the Polish position remained unchanged. Warsaw fears that new voting rules will reduce its influence in Brussels and is prepared to discuss any changes in voting rules only after the Nice rules come into effect in 2005.
The Nice rules give Poland and Spain 27 votes each in the EU Council of Ministers, just two votes fewer than Britain, France, Germany and Italy, despite smaller populations.