LONDON -- At the final summit of the Irish presidency of the European Union in Brussels late last month, European heads of government agreed on the text of a European constitution for the enlarged group of 25 states that came into being at the beginning of May. Representatives of the 10 new states were apparently flabbergasted by the acrimony displayed at the final dinner and by the hard bargaining that went on until an agreement was eventually thrashed out.
Personal relations between British Prime Minister Tony Blair, on one hand, and French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, on the other, were reported to have deteriorated badly. Chirac aroused the animosity of the new states by behaving with his accustomed arrogance. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, however, won plaudits for weaving together a last-minute agreement.
It remains to be seen whether the constitution, with its long-winded phraseology based on innumerable compromises, will ever come into force. It must be ratified by all 25 states, and some 10 states have already declared that they will put it to a popular vote.