Compromis in voorbereiding over stemwegingen in Raad van Ministers (en)

Germany is waiting for Ireland to put concrete proposals on the table to break the deadlock on the voting system in the EU Constitution.

German government circles, quoted by Reuters, said on Thursday (12 March), "we are waiting for suggestions from the chair".

"If there is a discussion on voting thresholds, then it should be open".

However, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder praised the Irish EU Presidency for the voting proposals that are currently informally doing the rounds.

"We support the Irish Presidency in its attempt to bring the Constitutiton process to an end within its Presidency. The suggestions that the Irish Presidency has announced are being very constructively discussed by us".

For its part, Dublin has been playing its cards very close to its chest - determined not to formally publish a compromise until is certain that it is acceptable to all of the member states.

The new vote weighting system is crucial to the balance of power in the new Constitution and is the reason why talks collapsed in December.

Currently, the proposals in the draft Constitution say that for decisions to be taken, at least 50% of member states representing 60% of the population must be in favour.

In order to allay small countries' fears, Dublin has been discussing proposals that change the thresholds.

They are working around compromises that mean that a combination of Germany, France and Britain - the EU's biggest countries - could not block a decision without the backing of other member states.