Germany and Poland broke a deadlock over the European Union constitution today, saying a deal over the bloc's first ever charter could be reached by the end of June.
"I am very happy that we agree that the creation of the constitution, which is already in full swing, should be finished during the Irish presidency [in the first half of 2004]," German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schroeder said after talks with Polish Prime Minister Mr Leszek Miller.
A dispute over the charter, with Germany and France at loggerheads with Poland and Spain, led to the collapse of the EU summit in December. Ireland, the EU's current president, hopes to relaunch constitution talks at a Brussels summit on Friday.
The constitution draft is aimed at improving the efficiency of the EU after the bloc grows to 25 members from 15 on May 1st. Poland is by far the largest newcomer.
Ireland said on Monday the EU could agree on its first constitution at a summit in mid-June, after the election of a new pro-European government in Spain and signs of compromise from Poland.
Spain and Poland blocked a deal in December to defend the weighted voting rights they won in the 2000 Nice treaty, which gave them almost as much power as the four most populous states - Germany, France, Britain and Italy.
Mr Schroeder said that the new voting system should be based on the "double majority" principle proposed in the draft constitution but said the future agreement must also reflect Polish demands to have a clout in the EU decision-making.
Under the current proposal, most EU decisions would be adopted by a majority of member states representing 60 per cent of the population.
But Spain and Poland seem certain to demand changes to that formula to protect their power to block decisions.