IRELAND/EU: Ireland's EU presidency is preparing a proposal to break the deadlock in the constitutional treaty talks over the size and composition of the European Commission. Officials said last night that the proposal would be presented to EU foreign ministers in advance of a meeting in Brussels on May 17th. Denis Staunton, European Correspondent reports
Sources suggest that the compromise would limit the Commission to 18 voting members, so that one in three member-states would be without a Commissioner with voting powers. The text approved by the Convention on the Future of Europe proposes that the Commission should have only 13 voting members, apart from the Commission President and a new Minister for Foreign Affairs. The presidency is considering a clause that would delay the reform of the Commission, perhaps until as late as 2013. Senior officials from the 25 member-states met at Croke Park yesterday to discuss a new draft of the constitutional treaty prepared by the Irish presidency. Officials described the outcome as positive, adding that delegations agreed on almost all of the draft and that no new issues were raised.
The presidency hopes to resolve most remaining disagreements by the end of May, leaving EU leaders to discuss only the most politically sensitive questions at next month's summit. These include the introduction of a new voting system in the Council of Ministers that would more closely reflect population size and proposals to abolish the national veto in a number of policy areas. A presidency source said last night that a compromise aimed at addressing British and Irish concerns over taxation policy was likely within the next fortnight.