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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| EU leaders agree on reform treaty | EU leaders agree on reform treaty |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| EU leaders in Brussels have reached agreement on an outline of new rules for the 27-member bloc after two days of tough negotiations, officials say. | EU leaders in Brussels have reached agreement on an outline of new rules for the 27-member bloc after two days of tough negotiations, officials say. |
| Compromise over a new voting system - to which Poland objected - was struck, removing a major obstacle to a deal. | Compromise over a new voting system - to which Poland objected - was struck, removing a major obstacle to a deal. |
| Warsaw had rejected previous proposals as giving too much weight to the bloc's larger members, including Germany. | Warsaw had rejected previous proposals as giving too much weight to the bloc's larger members, including Germany. |
| The treaty is planned to replace the failed EU constitution, which was rejected by voters in 2005. | The treaty is planned to replace the failed EU constitution, which was rejected by voters in 2005. |
| German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that "we have a detailed and clear mandate for an IGC [inter-governmental conference]" which will draft the actual treaty. | German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that "we have a detailed and clear mandate for an IGC [inter-governmental conference]" which will draft the actual treaty. |
| "We are very, very satisfied with what we have been able to conclude." | "We are very, very satisfied with what we have been able to conclude." |
| Ms Merkel said it had not been easy but in the end everyone had made concessions. | Ms Merkel said it had not been easy but in the end everyone had made concessions. |
| National control | |
| The IGC now has a precise mandate to draft a reform treaty by the end of the year, says the BBC's Oana Lungescu in Brussels. | |
| This treaty will then need to be ratified by each of the EU's member states. | |
| It will preserve many of the key features of the failed constitution, says our correspondent. | |
| Poland's demands for a radical rethink of the voting system were overcome by delaying the new system's implementation. | |
| A "double majority" system will begin be phased-in beginning 2014 and fully implemented three years later. | |
| Under this system, a 55% majority of EU countries with at least 65% of the bloc's population will be required for a change to be approved. | |
| Britain and the Netherlands also got what they wanted. | |
| "The four essential things that we in the UK required in order to protect our position have all been obtained," said Tony Blair at the end of his last EU summit as British Prime Minister. | |
| "Those were first of all to make it absolutely clear that the charter on fundamental rights was not going to be justiciable in British courts or alter British law." | |
| Mr Blair also wanted to maintain national control over foreign policy, justice and home affairs. | |
| The Netherlands too was satisfied that the role of national parliaments in Europe is to be strengthened and the criteria for new members joining the EU are included in the treaty. |