Messy Battle for EU Constitution Expected

World | October 6, 2003, Monday // 00:00
Messy Battle for EU Constitution Expected Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi gestures at British Foreign minister Jack Straw (right) as he arrives at the Palazzo dei Congressi for the Intergovernmental Conference in Rome. Photo by AFP

After the largely ceremonial start of its drive for a first ever constitution, the European Union must now get down to the messy business of balancing sharply rivaling interests among its current and future member states. Saturday's summit, a 15-million-euro (17.5-million dollar) affair in the Italian capital, did more to demonstrate than heal the divisions between 15 member countries and 10 mainly ex-communist states joining the bloc in May 2004. Meanwhile large and sporadically violent protests on the streets of Rome against the meeting underscored the difficulty leaders may have in selling the new constitution to their people, whatever compromise is eventually struck. As the clock ticks toward a December deadline for an accord, Italian Prime Minister and current EU president Silvio Berlusconi was already going for damage control at the so-called intergovernmental conference (IGC). "I have never considered the possibility of not wrapping negotiations under our presidency as a defeat," Berlusconi said, adding nevertheless that he was still "optimistic" on a constitutional treaty for the 46-year-old Union.

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