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EU Leaders Turn to Constitution at Greek Summit

20/06/2003 12:07
By Marie-Louise Moller and Paul Taylor
PORTO CARRAS, Greece (Reuters) - EU leaders turned their attention to a draft constitution aimed at shaking up the bloc's creaking institutions on Friday, the second day of a summit so far untouched by anti-capitalist protests.

The leaders also planned to underline their new priority to fighting the spread of weapons of mass destruction with warnings to North Korea and Iran over their nuclear programs, according to a draft statement obtained by Reuters.

Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing presented the proposed constitution, designed to avoid paralysis in an enlarged EU, to the 15 current and 10 future member states in the centerpiece of the summit in the Greek coastal resort of Porto Carras.

The 77-year-old statesman ceremonially handed over a blue, leather-bound copy of the draft to Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis, chairing the summit, at the start of Friday's session.

BLUEPRINT APPROVED

The blueprint was approved virtually unanimously last week by the Convention on the Future of Europe headed by Giscard -- a forum of national and European parliamentarians, and government and European Commission representatives.

The leaders were set to describe it in their final statement as "a good basis for starting" inter-government talks on a new EU treaty in October. No country now opposes plans for a long-term European Council president, replacing the current rotating presidency, as well as an EU foreign minister.

But several leaders planned to put down markers that they would seek to amend the draft in the negotiations, notably to preserve a weighted voting system that gives smaller states power disproportionate to their population.

"The draft EU constitution is a valuable and difficult work. It's a historic step forward for Europe, all member states will gain," Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou told reporters.

Britain has said it will oppose articles calling for closer coordination of tax and economic policy, to uphold the national right of veto.

The way that right can paralyze EU business was highlighted on Thursday when French President Jacques Chirac forced the suspension of talks on reforming the bloc's costly farm subsidy system by threatening to veto any majority decision unfavorable to France's militant farmers.

NUCLEAR PROGRAMS

The draft summit statement demanded that North Korea dismantle its nuclear program and that Iran accept intrusive spot checks on its atomic facilities to restore confidence in its assertion that it is not developing illegal weapons.

It endorsed a first embryonic European security strategy drafted by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and vowed to work actively for peace alongside the United States in the Middle East -- fighting terrorism and its sources of funding.

But the leaders were undecided, according to the document, on how far to back proposals by Italy, which takes over the bloc's presidency in July, for a massive investment program in public works and research and development.

Greece mobilized 16,000 troops and police in a land, air and sea security operation to counter protests that have become a feature of global summits. But Thursday's demonstrations in the nearby port city of Thessaloniki were peaceful and small.

Anti-capitalist demonstrators and trade unionists, mainly from Greece but with a sprinkling from other European nations, planned fresh protests on Friday.

The leaders agreed on Thursday to spend 140 million euros ($163 million) to keep illegal immigrants outside the bloc's expanding external frontiers, which will touch the former Soviet Union and the Balkans after eastward enlargement next year.

But Britain withdrew a controversial plan to set up safe areas for refugees in regions of conflict.

In other discussions, France urged leaders to appoint Bank of France governor Jean-Claude Trichet for a full eight-year term as head of the European Central Bank. But summit host Greece said a decision would not be made until October.