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EU Leaders Reach Final Deal on Reform Treaty |
 EU leaders reached an agreement in Lisbon for the reform treaty which is going to replace the European Constitution and will take affect in 2009. Marathon talks were successful. Leaders hugged each other with relief. If the treaty is approved by all countries-members of the EU the agreement will be assigned in Lisbon Summit Meeting in December 13. "With this treaty, Europe is showing that the European project is on the move . We managed to get out of the blind alley we have been in," Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, the summit chairman, stated.
By Annita Paschalinou
The agreement reached was a breath of relief for European leaders who congratulated each other and "sealed" the agreement with an opening of Champaign. "The reform is not end in itself", European Commission president Jose Barosso stated. "eith these institutions now, we can look after the most priorities for our citizens."
When the egreement is signed by all EU countries members it will take effect in 2009, giving the EU a long –term president, a more powerful policy leader, more democratic decision and more say for the European and National Parliaments.
The agreement also puts an end to the crisis by Dutch and French voters who rejected the European Constitution in 2005. A rejection which was a vote of no confidence for an organization seen by many Europeans as bureaucratic.
Ireland is may organize a referendum for the approval of the reform.
Italy won an extra seat in the European Parliament. Italy has now 73 seats with an equal representation in Parliament with Britain.
Poland won a guarantee that small groups of states’ delay of European decisions can be overturned by unanimity. Poland won only one permanent generals’ job in the European Court of Justice.
Warsaw was totally satisfied. "Poland achieved all it wanted," President Lech Kaczynski told reporters.
Austria accepted the European Commission’s initiative to suspend legal action against it for 5 years over quotas on foreign students in order to stop medical students' wave of neighboring Germany entering its universities
EU leaders also agreed to allow Bulgaria to spell the common euro currency as "evro" in its Cyrillic language. The European Central Bank insisted that euro must be spelled the same in all 27 EU states.
British Prime Minister Mr. Gordon Brown defended the new arrangements so as to ensure that the British sovereignty will not be undermined.
"At every point we have been determined to protect the British national interest and to ensure that the interests of the British people are safeguarded, " he said, using the term "British national interests" 19 times in his news conference.
Karamanlis Meetings
On the sidelines of the Summit meeting, Prime-minister, Kostas Karamanlis met with German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Among the subjects of their talks were the agreement on the Reform Treaty, developments in western Balkans and Kosovo and the FYROM issue. Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the reform treaty agreement, assessing that the EU moves stronger towards the future, however, they both expressed certainty that there will be some problems in ratification procedures.
In reference to western Balkans and specifically on the Kosovo issue, they both expressed hope for a solution with Mr. Karamanlis underlining that Greece supported a UN decision.
The Greek Prime-minister briefed the German Chancellor on the issue of the name of FYROM, noting that Greece has exhausted all limits and describing as intransigent the neighbour country’ stand. It is not conceivable for FYROM’s admission to NATO and the EU without a previous mutual agreement on the name. Mr. Karamanlis characteristically said that Skopyie does not meet the political culture concept of a country which wants to become a member of the EU and NATO.
The Greek Prime-minister will later meet with French President Nikola Sarkozy
Translated by Sofia Gartziou
20.10.2007
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