[autom.vertaling] Spanje en Polen houden omhoog de strijd van Nice (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Poland along with Spain, backed by two tiny new EU member states - Estonia and Malta again raised the question of the voting system in the EU Council at the third round of talks on the EU consitution.

Both countries oppose the double-majority system of voting which would mean a vote would be passed if it was backed by a majority of member states representing 60 percent of the bloc's population.

The new system proposed by the European Convention enables the three largest EU members to block decisions backed by the other 22 countries of the enlarged Union.

The two countries, now backed by Malta and Estonia, favour the old system of voting divised at Nice, which gives medium-sized countries more power in relative terms.

Poland and Spain's hardline opposition on the new voting method has caused some bitterness.

But they are not backing down.

A compromise om the disagreement is at hand according to the Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller, its name: Nice.

The head of the Polish government believes that the voting system agreed in Nice is a good formula to equalize position for small, medium and large member states.

The Spanish Prime Minister however is more concilliatory. "Nice is not the bible, neither is the convention even if some pretend so," José Maria Aznar said in Brussels.

But Berlin, Paris and Rome are insisting on a new system for EU decision-making. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini today telling journalists that "Nice cannot be identified as a useful reference point".

A solution to the voting system will be contained in an overall Constitution package set to be unveiled by the Italian Presidency mid-Novmember.