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EU treaty welcomed
23/06/2007 13:40 - (SA)
Frankfurt - The president of the European parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, said on Saturday that the new EU treaty agreed at a marathon summit in Brussels preserved much of the substance of the draft constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago.
"I pay my greatest respect to Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel," Poettering told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in an interview released in advance of publication Sunday.
"Without her this result would not have been possible," said the legislator, who is a member of the German chancellor's Christian Democratic Union (CDU).
Poettering said the new treaty, which still has to be approved by an intergovernmental conference later this year, increases the decision-making capacity of the Strasbourg-based EU parliament.
The document, which will not be known as a constitution, includes a new voting system and plans for an EU president and a high representative in charge of foreign affairs.
Leaders of the 27-member bloc thrashed out a deal on the new treaty after 36 hours of fraught negotiations that included a veto threat by Poland on the voting issue. - Sapa-dpa
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