Brussels, 29/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski spread confusion on Friday by intimating, first of all, that he would demand partial “renegotiation” of the mandate for the Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) on the future treaty, as adopted by the European Council last weekend. He then went on to deny that Poland intended to question the compromise. Warsaw will, however, be seeking “clarification” and “further precision” on the Ioannina compromise, ,which is part of the final compromise that the EU27 included in the mandate for the IGC with regard to the voting system in Council (EUROPE 9453, special edition of 24 June). The Ioannina compromise, which dates back to 1994, provides for a group of countries forming “almost a blocking minority” during qualified majority vote in Council to call for discussions to continue. The Council must then do everything in its power to reach a “satisfactory solution” within a reasonable time. To date, it has been generally agreed within the EU that a reasonable time is three or four months.
The Polish government now states it has received an oral commitment from its partners. Mr Kaczynski above all cites the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who said that freezing the decision and the search for a satisfactory solution could take two years, which would amount, de facto, to a veto. “We agreed orally that the delay could be up to two years”, Mr Kaczynski told the press. According to the Polish prime minister, “this question must be settled by the Intergovernmental Conference”, which will be convened on 23 July and which should finalise and adopt the text of the treaty by strictly following the mandate of the European Council. This mandate provides that, between 1 November 2014 and 31 March 2017, the “almost blocking minority”' should comprise at least 75% of the EU population and at least 75% of the member states that are normally necessary for forming a blocking minority (according to the weight voting set out in the Nice Treaty). As of 1 April 2017, the two thresholds will be reduced to 55% each.
The European Commission has already refused any request to renegotiate the mandate. “A deal is a deal. For us, the issue is settled”, a spokesperson said on Friday. José Manuel Barroso said that he hoped “all governments will respect what they unanimously agreed to a few days ago”.
Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates, who will be taking over as president-in-office of the EU on Sunday, takes the view that this is a “misunderstanding” that should be swiftly cleared up. “I know what was decided at the last summit in Brussels. We came out of it with a clear and precise mandate and I believe that this misunderstanding will be rapidly removed”, Mr Socrates told the press in Lisbon. Alongside Mr Socrates, the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, considered for his part that Warsaw's request was “totally contradictory” and “totally unacceptable”. (hb)