Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "New Warsaw Express"

Poland made the front pages across Europe last weekend, when it and Spain derailed a European Union summit that was to have adopted a draft EU constitution. The two countries stood firm against changes to the Nice Treaty's EU voting rights system which would have given more power to the union's largest states. Germany and France proved as unwilling to compromise and the talks collapsed before 2 p.m. on Saturday, as much as 36 hours earlier than expected.
Though many voices in the West were critical, the Polish press sang paeans for Prime Minister Leszek Miller, who travelled to the summit despite breaking two vertebrae in a helicopter crash just a week earlier. Even opposition politicians praised his unbending attitude.
"Prime Minister Leszek Miller and his government have been successful," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski, chief of the rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party. "In the face of the rigid stance of France and Germany, the premier could not do any more for Poland's interests."
The Nice voting system, which was part of the deal agreed on in Poland's EU accession treaty, gave mid-sized countries like Spain and Poland more votes than what they would get based only on population size. The system was a compromise with smaller countries that feared domination by the EU's main players. Germany and France are now pushing hard to change this system before it has a chance to come into force, and Poland and Spain have together been fighting against what they suggest is plain bullying.
The Poles argue the vote-weighing was part of the accession treaty ratified by a public referendum this summer, and that any changes that significantly weaken Poland's position within the Union would require a further vote. This threatens to derail the entire process of adopting the EU constitution and its reforms. These, in turn, are needed to keep the organisation from becoming deadlocked after 10 new members, including Poland, join next May.
Most commentators on either side of the divide were trying to talk down this weekend's failure, though French diplomats have suggested that the EU's core members should get on with further integration without those countries that object to it. By the middle of the week, though, it was clear that both sides would soon be back at the negotiating table, with Poland likely to face threats of reductions in EU funding if it does not compromise on the constitution.

SIMON CYGIELSKI

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