EU leaders pose for press photos

BRUSSELS, June 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The European Union (EU) finally struck Friday, June 18, an accord on a groundbreaking constitution, adopting new voting system and dropping any reference to Christianity as the continent's religion.

But agreement on the second major issue confronting the 25 leaders at a summit here, the choice of a successor to Romano Prodi as president of the EU’s executive commission, remained elusive, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"It's a great achievement for Europe . It's a great achievement for all Europeans," said Irish Prime Minister and current EU chairman Bertie Ahern after steering his colleagues through two days of bruising wrangling to the constitution deal.

Europe 's leaders, who applauded Ahern when the deal was finally struck, lined up to pay tribute to the agreement.

"A new Europe is taking shape ... This is a Europe of nations cooperating with each other, not a European superstate," said Britain 's Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"It was an historic decision," added German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, while French President Jacques Chirac hailed it as "an important day for Europe " as well as "a good accord for France ".

With this new charter, which has been more than two years in the making, the EU will get a president elected by its member states to guide its work, and a foreign minister to represent it on the international stage.

The EU's executive commission will be cut from current 30 members to two-thirds of member states, or 17, starting in 2014.

Also under the new code, the European Parliament's size will be capped at 750 lawmakers and small EU states will be guaranteed a minimum of six seats.

No Religion

Chirac insisted that the constitution’s preamble should make no reference to religion

The new constitution makes no reference for religion with leaders rejecting the requests of some member nations to recognize the Christian heritage of Europe .

Seven nations, including Italy , Poland and the Czech Republic , urged the EU to refer to the "Christian roots of Europe " and explicitly mention Christianity and God in the constitution.

The Vatican also made clear it wants a reference to Christianity in the Constitution.

"At a moment when a new order is being born in old Europe , Spain cannot fail to bring forth among its many contributions the express manifestation of its Christian roots," the Associated Press quoted Pope John Paul as saying in a meeting with the Spanish ambassador.

France and others say this would have violated the principle of separation of church and state.

The constitution's preamble says Europe draws "inspiration from the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe ," and freedom of religion and the role of churches in society are mentioned elsewhere.

EU hopeful Turkey welcomed on Saturday, June 19, the EU's first-ever constitution for omitting any reference to Christianity.

"There is no reference (to Christianity). It is a good constitution and it meets Turkey 's expectations," Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the Anatolia news agency in Brussels .

Turkey has been a candidate for EU membership since 1999 and hopes to get the green light in December to begin accession talks.

New Voting System

The final text includes a provision for so-called "double majority" voting, which will be at the heart of EU decision-making once the new constitution is ratified by all 25 states.

Under the new arrangements, new EU laws will need the approval of 15 of the member states, representing at least 65 percent of the entire population of the bloc.

Crucially, they also set out strict rules for a "blocking minority" -- effectively ensuring that EU heavyweights Britain , France and Germany cannot themselves throw out a piece of legislation, AFP said.

The last attempt to agree on a constitution in December failed after a battle over voting rights in the EU, which was holding its first summit since welcoming 10 new members on May 1 to take its membership to 25.

Poland and Spain notably held out against proposed changes that would have seen the generous voting powers they currently enjoy eroded.

Commission President

"It's a great achievement for Europe . It's a great achievement for all Europeans," said Ahern (AFP)

Tempers were clearly tested in talks late Thursday, June 17, on the commission job.

The leaders failed to agree on a new head of the European Commission despite extended late-night talks.

Ahern said "a number of good quality candidates" had been discussed but no consensus had been found.

EU heavyweights France and Germany are backing Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt to succeed Prodi whose mandate expires in October.

But Britain was adamant the Belgian leader is too federalist, and claimed enough support from other nations -- Italy , Poland , Slovenia , Greece and Portugal -- to block him.

Schroeder accused "conservatives and Christian Democrats of playing a game of a party-political power tactics" to block the preferred Franco-German candidate.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he believed the Flemish liberal, a critical of the Iraq war, was out of the race.

"Verhofstadt was not someone who had the positive support, not just of the United Kingdom but of other member states," Reuters quoted Straw as saying.

European conservatives weighed in by proposing the EU's external relations commissioner, Briton Chris Patten.

In the expectation that France and Germany would reject him, Verhofstadt and Patten thus effectively neutralizing each other.

Other proposed names include Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, outgoing European Parliament head Pat Cox and even Ahern himself.