The EU was faced yesterday with months of debilitating uncertainty after summit talks designed to thrash out a new constitution collapsed in spectacular fashion.
After two years of drafting the historic charter, which is supposed to equip the bloc for its biggest enlargement yet, EU leaders Saturday threw in the towel in the face of an intractable dispute over national voting rights.
Intensive attempts by the EU's Italian presidency to broker a deal foundered on fierce demands by Poland and Spain to retain the generous influence they secured in the Nice Treaty three years ago.
France and Germany, on the other side, also refused to budge on their demands for a constitution that will allow an enlarged 25-nation EU of 450 million people to work effectively.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi conceded defeat after seeing his compromise proposals on the voting rights question fail to break the impasse, describing the disagreement as "total."
The fiasco revived talk of the EU's six founding members -- Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands -- going their own way in a "two-speed" EU.
French President Jacques Chirac renewed his demand for "pioneer groups" of EU members, while German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said a twin-track Europe might be "the logical consequence" if the new constitution is not adopted.
The mess now passes to Ireland, which replaces Italy in the EU hotseat next month.
But Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said he would wait until March before reconvening the inter-governmental conference (IGC) on the constitution.
"I don't think before March there will be any agreement. There's not enough political will to find an agreement," he said.
"This is a huge project. This is a fundamental change for the whole of Europe. It's not unusual on such a big project that people have to reflect on it."
The timescale indicated by Ahern makes it unlikely that the new constitution will be adopted in time for the "big bang" enlargement on May 1, when 10 more countries from central Europe and the Mediterranean are set to join the EU.
The treaty must be ratified in all 25 present and future member states.
The Polish government was adamant that it would never be able to sell the proposed voting changes to its parliament, where opposition parties have adopted the slogan "Nice or die."
The Polish delegation came in for sustained criticism in Brussels for adopting a hardline stance that made compromise impossible.
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