Warsaw and Paris Seek Constitution Deal

The French and Polish foreign ministers are "convinced" they can find solutions to the sticking points holding up the proposed European constitution. Speaking after a meeting on Friday afternoon, Polish Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimosziewicz said, "We are determined, we can do it, we want to do it and we are convinced that we will be able to find agreement on the different points that have not yet been resolved." Warsaw and Paris hope to be able to thrash out their differences before the European elections in June, according to French daily Le Monde. French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin said that there is a "common will to tackle these questions together." Disagreements between Paris and Warsaw were seen as one of the reasons for the failure of talks on a European Constitution in December. Poland, backed by Spain, wanted to maintain the current system of voting weights in the European Council whereas France, in turn backed by Germany, supported a new system that would give Poland less weight. (EUobserver.com)