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EU official: Some member countries may set out alone

European Commission President Romano Prodi said Tuesday that if EU nations don't adopt a constitution this year, some may embrace more political and economic integration on their own.

"We cannot wait forever," Prodi told a news conference with the Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country assumed the EU presidency Jan. 1. "The moment will come when somebody must give an example to go on. Europe cannot always go at the speed of the very, very, very slowest wagon."

Historically, he said, integration-minded EU members have always taken the fast lane when others dragged their heels.

He cited the euro, the single currency for the 15 EU states, except for Britain, Denmark and Sweden, which have retained their own currencies.

By contrast, Ahern has tried to dispel the notion of a two-speed Europe, which surfaced after last month's failure by EU leaders -- and by the 10 nations due to join the EU in May -- to agree on a European constitution.

"We don't want to look at what might happen," said Ahern whose job it is to assess why the summit last month failed. He is to recommend to the EU leaders in late March how to end the deadlock.

"We are determined to do all we can to" reach a constitutional agreement soon, he said. "We just have to see what progress we can make."

Given the relaxed late-March deadline, it may well be left to the Netherlands, which takes the EU helm July 1, to restart and complete the constitutional negotiations.

Prodi and his 20-member European Commission held a day of talks with the Irish government to discuss the EU agenda in the months ahead.

Prodi is to unveil proposed annual EU spending limits for the 2007-2013 period on Jan. 25.

The EU's 2004 budget of roughly 100 billion euros (US$126 billion) now accounts for 1 percent of its total gross national income, well below the maximum allowed level of 1.24 percent.

However, Prodi ruled out a spending freeze, as demanded by France, Britain, Germany, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands. He said if the EU economy is to become more competitive, it must boost spending on education, research and development.

After the EU leaders failed to adopt a draft constitution text last month, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder suggested a "pioneer" group of nations move ahead with closer cooperation in such areas as the economy, justice and defense.

The summit collapsed when Poland and Spain refused to accept a draft constitution reducing their say in the union. The two want to retain a system giving them almost as many votes as Germany, which has more than twice the population of either.

Germany and France back a draft charter that replaces national votes with a formula that says decisions are passed if backed by a simple majority of the 25 EU members, if these nations account for at least 60 percent of the union's 450-million population.
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