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With just three days to go to a tense summit on the future of the EU treaty, Poland has still not decided if prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczysnki or president Lech Kaczynski will go to Brussels, in a move that could indicate how hard Poland will fight for voting system reforms.

The question comes amid an ugly disagreement between Warsaw and the German EU presidency over EU voting weights - an elaborate calculus on power sharing that kicks in on the rare occasions that EU members cannot agree on new laws by consensus. Berlin and almost all other EU members want to go for a "double majority" system, which gives big states more power vis-a-vis medium-sized countries than the current "Nice" system. But Poland is pushing for a middle way, based on the "square root" of member states' populations.

Slovakia has become the ninth country to ratify the new EU Treaty as deputies approved the text by a margin of 103 votes to five - after settling a dispute over a controversial media bill that had dragged on for months.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed his relief following the vote, saying "with this document, the EU will be closer to Slovak citizens"

Meanwhile, Polish President Lech Kaczynski added his signature to the Treaty, clearing the final hurdle in the country's ratification process. It had already been approved by both chambers of the Polish Parliament last week (EurActiv 02/04/08).  The Polish president and his brother, former prime minister and current opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, had long delayed ratification, demanding legal guarantees that the new Treaty would not threaten Polish interests.  Ahead of Poland and Slovakia,  seven countries have ratified the Treaty, namely Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Malta, Romania, Slovenia and Austria, which was the most recent signatory (EurActiv 10/04/08). The text has to be approved by all 27 member states to enter into force. 

The German and Polish leaders said Monday that European Union countries should press ahead with ratifying the reform treaty rejected by Irish voters, but vowed not to isolate Ireland as they seek a way out of the crisis. The charter, meant to replace the failed EU constitution, was rejected in an Irish referendum on Thursday _ the only popular vote planned in the bloc. The treaty requires the ratification of all 27 EU members, leaving EU leaders scrambling to salvage their reform plans.

She also argued that the treaty is vital to further expansion of the EU into the western Balkans, whose stability is critical to Europe's well-being. «We need the Lisbon Treaty because we want to expand the EU,» she said.

A new proposal by Sweden and Poland to strengthen the EU's ties with its eastern neighbours to be officially presented today is not meant to undermine but rather enhance existing EU policies, according to a draft paper obtained by EurActiv.

Mirroring the countries already covered by the ENP scheme, the new initiative aims to improve ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and particularly Ukraine. The draft paper suggests that a new Enhanced Partnership Agreement (EPA) currently being negotiated with Ukraine "could serve as a reference" for other countries. 

The new initiative is seen as a complement to the French-driven 'Union for the Mediterranean' proposal, but unlike the original French vision, the Polish-Swedish proposal clearly states that it would be embedded into existing EU structures and does not seek additional funding but is financed solely out of the ENP budget.

On the occasion of the Portuguese Presidency launch, Prime Minister José Socrates and Commission President José Manuel Barroso united to urge Poland and other member states to stick to their commitments on the EU Reform Treaty, as nationalist Polish politicians vowed to undermine it. Related: LinksDossier:   The Portuguese Presidency: In Brief LinksDossier:   The EU's 'Reform Treaty' Brief News: Polish nationalist politicians rallied in their opposition to the new Treaty on 2 July, which may endanger a swift agreement on a new EU Treaty at an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC), about to start on 23 July. Roman Giertych, leader of a government coalition party, the League of Polish Families, announced that he would strive to undermine the Treaty. "We will start a campaign against the Treaty because, thanks to Germany, it includes amendments that are putting EU interests ahead of Poland's interests," the nationalist leader told reporters on 2 July.

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has warned both Poland and the UK not to block attempts to agree a new treaty for the European Union. Speaking about Poland with Financial Times Deutschland, Mr Barroso indicated it was time for Warsaw to show the same solidarity it demanded on issues to do with Russia towards solving the EU's internal problems.

Poland will not complete the final step of ratification for the EU's Lisbon treaty until after Ireland has had its second referendum on the document, the Polish president has reiterated. While noting that his country does not intend to be an obstacle to the bloc's ratification of the text, Lech Kaczynski said he would only sign off on the treaty if Irish citizens say Yes in the new vote, expected in autumn.

The president's tough stance comes despite the Polish parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday passing a resolution for him to yield. "The parliament requests the president to respect the will of both houses of parliament and to finish the process of ratification as quickly as possible," the resolution - which is to be voted on in plenary on Thursday - says, according to Rzeczpospolita.

Besides Ireland and Poland, Germany - which is awaiting a ruling by its highest court on legal challenges to the text - and the Czech Republic have also not yet ratified the EU treaty.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy will today (16 June) fly to Prague for emergency talks on the Lisbon Treaty with the prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, with Czech president Vaclav Klaus declaring the treaty dead after the Irish No vote. "The project is over in its entirety," Czech president Vaclav Klaus said after the rejection of the EU pact by Irish voters last week, AFP reports. "It makes no sense to continue the ratification of a dead document."

The Czech Republic will take over the EU's rotating presidency from France on 1 January 2009. So far, parliaments in 18 EU member states have approved the Lisbon treaty. The UK has also indicated it would proceed with the document's ratification.

Meanwhile, an adviser to Polish president Lech Kaczynski – who still has to complete Poland's ratification by signing the document – has said that Mr Kaczynski should know whether the Lisbon treaty exists before he goes forward. "For now, there is a strong suggestion the treaty may have ceased to exist as it was rejected by one [EU] country," the presidential aide, Michal Kaminski, told Polish daily Rzeczpospolita. The Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, is strongly pro-ratification, however. A TNS OBOP opinion poll over the weekend said 71 percent of Poles would back the treaty if there was a referendum in Poland.

The Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, has indicated he will not sign the Lisbon treaty until Ireland gets over its No vote, dealing a strong blow to EU attempts to revive the pact. German ratification also went on hold Monday (30 June), pending a Constitutional Court decision early next year.

The Polish parliament passed the treaty in April, but Mr Kaczynski must now sign a Ratification Act to finalise the process. The president told Dziennik his general approach to EU diplomacy is to give Poland more clout by protecting national interests at every turn. "My politics is a way to make sure the telephone number of the Polish president or prime minister is frequently used by Berlin, Paris, London or other capitals," he said.

"The principle of unanimity is binding here," he added, explaining that Poland must protect small EU countries' rights as it is not a major power itself. "If the principle of unanimity is broken once it will cease to exist forever. We are too weak to accept this kind of solution."

Poland will not take part in any intergovernmental talks on a new EU treaty that do not discuss EU voting rights, but the square root voting model is open to negotiation, Polish officials said, indicating a willingness to compromise. "If there's no possibility to discuss such an important item as the voting issue, then there's no point in having an intergovernmental conference [IGC]," a Polish delegate said, speaking before the 27 teams of sherpas - EU member state negotiators - sat down in Brussels at 17:00 local time on Tuesday evening (19 June).

Poland plans to propose a new voting system in the upcoming EU treaty talks that will be based on square roots of populations instead of simple populations. The so-called "Penrose square root law" would give Warsaw more say against Berlin, with one Polish official already talking about potential Polish vetoes in the game.

Prague and Warsaw have poured cold water on French calls for a moratorium on a planned US missile shield in Europe, with both capitals saying that president Nicolas Sarkozy overstepped his mandate.

"I don't think that third countries, even such good friends as France, can have a particular right to express themselves on this issue," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday (15 November)

The Polish leader described Mr Sarkozy's comments as his "own point of view, [with] no impact of the future of the project," according to AFP, adding that "The question of the anti-missile shield is governed by an agreement between Poland and the United States."

Poland and Sweden are to unveil joint proposals for a new eastern Europe policy at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels on Monday (26 May), in a mini-version of France's "Mediterranean Union." The "Eastern Partnership" envisages a multinational forum between the EU-27 and neighbouring states Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, Polish press agency PAP reports.

The forum would aim to negotiate visa-free travel deals, free trade zones for services and agricultural products and strategic partnership agreements with the five countries. It would also launch smaller, bilateral projects on student exchange, environmental protection and energy supply, but would avoid the controversial topic of EU membership perspectives.

Unlike the grander Mediterranean club, the eastern set-up would not have its own secretariat but would be run by the European Commission and financed from the 2007 to 2013 European neighbourhood policy budget. A commission official would be appointed as its "special coordinator."

The Sejm's special session was convened after Liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk (Civic Platform party) and conservative opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski of the Law and Justice Party struck a deal on Tuesday (31 March), lifting the threat of a block by the opposition.

The ratification bill is now expected to be approved by the Polish Senate on Wednesday (2 April). The process will then be finalised with a signature by the country's president. So far, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Malta, Romania, France and Bulgaria have approved the document. Ratification of the Lisbon treaty is expected to be finalised by the end of this year, in order that the treaty can come into force in 2009. So far, only Ireland is to hold a referendum on the treaty, expected in June.

Following France's example with the EuroMed proposal, Poland and Sweden are due to present an 'Eastern Initiative' at a meeting next week, in a move which diplomats warned could ruin the EU's patient efforts to craft a common external policy.

The Commission's attempt to forge a European Neighbourhood Policy with countries on its southern and eastern borders will be dealt another blow when Poland and Sweden present their joint proposal for an 'Eastern Initiative' at a meeting of foreign ministers on Monday (26 May). 

Poland is emerging as another potential problem for Lisbon Treaty ratification, with the office of the president - who has yet to sign off on the document - beginning to publicly argue that the EU pact is dead following the Irish No. "There are a lot of indications that...the Lisbon Treaty today doesn't exist in a legal sense because one of the [EU] countries rejected its ratification," presidential aide Michal Kaminski told Poland's Radio ZET on Sunday (22 June).