Last week, New York Times (December 4, 2003: "Europe's Vision of Unity Meets Headwinds") reported that the writing of an EU constitution had hit snags over two issues: one, allowances for national budgets to run debts, two, the voting power of large states versus small states.

The first issue will not likely be resolved in the constitutional negotiations: it is a matter for the European council (the reps from each country who act as an executive body) to flesh out with the EU Bank in Frankfurt.

The second isssue may be coming to a resolution. The problem arises from the distribution of votes among the member nations. Germany and France, the largest members by population, want more proportional representation. Spain and Poland want a return to the formula that was derived at Nice and that gave them numbers of representatives more equal to Germany's. At the core od the debate is whether smaller states should be able to bully up on the larger states and direct EU policy--a possibility that is especially acute since many new memberships will come from former Soviet satellites, which are smaller than western counterparts.

The Polish government appears ready to negotiate on this issue. No, they may not back down of reforms of the system of representation. But it appears that the Poles are unwilling to let the issue derail the writing of the constitution. I am impressed with Poland's dedication to the process of integration. Britain drags its feet, bringing up new criticisms that "spell doom" for the project of integration. Poland, a new member, shares British skepticism, but attempts to find answers and still works for the formalization of the European Union.