[autom.vertaling] De Grondwet van de EU van het ontwerp die in Brussel wordt herschreven (en)

A future Brussels executive could have 31 members if six big countries receive two representative seats.

This has not previously been an option during the debates on the draft Constitution, but it could be during the IGC, as a gesture towards Poland and Spain, Le Figaro says.

In spite of the EU states' arrangement not to modify the Draft Constitution text, Le Figaro says that the document is being technically "arranged" in Brussels by the juridic services in the Council so that it can find a compromise to please everyone.

The proposed changes are being made on the four main controversial points: the composition of the European Commission, the weighting of the votes in the Council, defence and the reference to Christianity.

According to Le Figaro, the European Commission could have one representative from each member state, as the majority of current and future members of the EU have asked.

But in order to please Poland and Spain, who are not happy with their institutional deal in the Constitution, the Commission could have two seats representing the big member states.

If this does not happen, Poland and Spain would then keep a blocking minority in the Council decision as the changes to the text envisage modifying the qualified majority figures proposed in the Draft Constitution.

If the percentage of the population in the majority voting formula would be higher than 60%, as it is now, two countries could block any decision in the Council. This would compensate the loss of a second EU commissioner, initially foreseen for the two countries in the Treaty of Nice.

Defence

The new arrangements made in Brussels to the Draft Constitutional text, continues Le Figaro, is also aimed to tackle the defence issue.

There is a possibility for France and Germany to drop the wish of having a "mutual defence clause", that the text includes now. This is a compromise that they would have to make to the UK which has accepted the Paris and Berlin plans in regards to European defence.

Christianity

Finally, regarding the reference to Christianity in the Constitution, the Italian EU Presidency is said to be preparing a text that would speak about "Christian and laic values", as well as about "other religions". The text will then prepare for the Turkish accession to the EU.