EU leaders failed to agree on a new president of the bloc's executive commission after late-night talks broke down, but were set to return for another round yesterday amid fears they may not agree on a constitution either.
Weary leaders started trickling out of the summit after midnight, failing after five hours of talks to agree on who should take over from Romano Prodi to run the commission for the next five years.
"We have not as yet succeeded in doing that," said Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU.
PHOTO: AFP
"Obviously we have to try to see if we can find a consensus," he said.
"We are not in that position. I'm afraid it's going to be a long day tomorrow as well," he said.
Diplomats said the standoff had reopened bitter divisions within the 25-nation bloc between supporters and opponents of the US-led war in Iraq, pitting supporters of a more federal EU integration against those who want a Europe of nation states.
Heavyweights France and Germany remained firmly in favor of Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, whom Britain had made clear on Wednesday it would not accept at any price.
European conservatives weighed in on Thursday by proposing the EU's external relations commissioner, Briton Chris Patten, in the expectation that France and Germany would reject him, with Verhofstadt and Patten thus effectively neutralizing each other.
One EU diplomat had earlier said failure to agree on a name could sour the mood so badly that leaders may be unable to build on positive steps made towards the bloc's first constitution.
"If there is no result [on the commission president] and a really bad atmosphere, there may not be a deal on the treaty," he said, adding that France and Germany could be deliberately tough in yesterday's talks after suffering defeat on Verhofstadt.
But Ahern denied this, telling the news conference: "I don't think it's a question of recrimination."
He said he had eight or nine possible candidates, but had not formally put forward any of them as he did not yet believe any could achieve the necessary support. However, he said the field had narrowed down to about half of the original list.
Late additions to those being considered included Irish businessman, former commissioner and former world trade chief Peter Sutherland, and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, but there was no obvious frontrunner.
Despite the presidency row, the EU leaders had quietly edged closer to a deal on the constitution as they tried to rebuild public confidence in the bloc following mass abstentions and euroskeptic gains in European Parliament elections last week.
Ireland said it was "closing in" on agreement on a first constitution after it put forward proposals to narrow differences over voting powers, the bloc's battered budget rules and policy areas where national vetoes will remain.
Ahern said he would make final proposals yesterday to answer remaining objections on the treaty, whose aim is to improve decision-making and give the enlarged bloc a fresh start.
Poland and Spain, whose stand on voting rights sunk a deal in December, voiced hope that they could agree on a text this time round. Britain, although it vowed to protect its national veto in some areas, said a deal was more likely than not.
"There is a unanimity that we cannot leave Brussels without a constitutional text," said Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
Six months ago, Spain and Poland fought to retain a deal they won in the 2000 Nice Treaty, which gave them almost as much power as Germany.
One question was whether British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, punished even more severely than other leaders in the European assembly vote, felt themselves to be in a strong enough domestic position to accept compromises.
Blair has gambled on calling a referendum to ratify the constitutional treaty.
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