Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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June 16, 2008

EU Foreign Ministers Warn Against 'Quick Fix' to EU Treaty 
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1CB7573:A6F02AD83191E160639E4B5FEE193C8198CBE7246176B735&
 
Eighteen countries have approved treaty, Ireland is only country which
rejected it 
Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Haris Silajdzic (l)
and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Luxembourg, 16 Jun
2008European Union foreign ministers say they have no "quick fix"
solutions
to rescue the EU treaty, which Irish voters rejected in a referendum
last week. EU foreign ministers met in Luxembourg Monday to
discuss the issue, but warned there is no easy way out of the present
impasse. Officials say they will try to get Irish leaders to
tell them if another referendum is possible as the treaty has to be
ratified by all 27 member states in order to become effective.In
a related development, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is in Prague
Monday to meet with the prime ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and
the Czech Republic. The French president is expected to call for
continued support of the treaty.Czech President Vaclav Klaus has called
for abandoning the treaty.Mr.
Sarkozy, whose country takes over the rotating EU presidency next
month, has said the Irish vote has created additional difficulty in the
union's reform process, but he stressed that this should not develop
into a crisis. Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowan said Sunday he
wants to work with other EU leaders in what he calls a "sense of
solidarity" to find a way forward. The EU treaty would reform
EU institutions, streamline the decision-making process, and give
greater powers to the EU president and foreign policy chief. Irish
opponents to the pact say it will undermine the country's prosperity by
imposing such EU-wide measures as changing the tax collection system.
Eighteen
countries have approved the treaty. Ireland, the only country with a
constitutional requirement for a referendum, is the only country
rejecting the treaty.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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