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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| EU talks to thrash out new treaty | EU talks to thrash out new treaty |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The EU has launched three months of talks on the text of a new treaty to reform the 27-member bloc. | The EU has launched three months of talks on the text of a new treaty to reform the 27-member bloc. |
| The step, taken by EU foreign ministers in Brussels, aims to end two years of confusion after French and Dutch voters rejected a draft EU constitution. | The step, taken by EU foreign ministers in Brussels, aims to end two years of confusion after French and Dutch voters rejected a draft EU constitution. |
| Correspondents say there is a common desire to proceed quickly, after the outlines of the new treaty were agreed at a summit in June. | Correspondents say there is a common desire to proceed quickly, after the outlines of the new treaty were agreed at a summit in June. |
| The foreign ministers are also drawing up plans to send peacekeepers to Chad. | The foreign ministers are also drawing up plans to send peacekeepers to Chad. |
| 145-page draft | |
| Portugal, which holds the EU presidency, submitted a first draft of 145 pages to legal experts from all member states at a short, low-key ceremony. | |
| This marks the start of an intergovernmental conference, which is expected to thrash out a final text by a summit in Lisbon in October. | This marks the start of an intergovernmental conference, which is expected to thrash out a final text by a summit in Lisbon in October. |
| JUNE EU DEAL: MAIN ISSUES Double majority voting delayed until 2014Long-term EU presidentHigh Representative for foreign affairs Fewer national veto powers More powers for the European Parliament Son-of-constitution is born href="/1/hi/world/europe/6901353.stm">Q&A: Reform treaty | |
| The legal teams will begin going through the text in detail on Tuesday. | The legal teams will begin going through the text in detail on Tuesday. |
| Looking to the world outside, EU foreign ministers instructed their military planners to prepare a peacekeeping operation to protect tens of thousands of refugees from Darfur on the Chad border. | Looking to the world outside, EU foreign ministers instructed their military planners to prepare a peacekeeping operation to protect tens of thousands of refugees from Darfur on the Chad border. |
| Strongly backed by France and Britain, the mission would include at least 1,500 troops and last up to a year. | Strongly backed by France and Britain, the mission would include at least 1,500 troops and last up to a year. |
| Russia will also feature on the agenda, with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband set to brief his colleagues on the tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats after Moscow's refusal to extradite the main suspect in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko in London last year. | Russia will also feature on the agenda, with British Foreign Secretary David Miliband set to brief his colleagues on the tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats after Moscow's refusal to extradite the main suspect in the killing of Alexander Litvinenko in London last year. |
| But British sources say they are happy with the support they have got from the rest of the EU and are not looking for new decisions. | But British sources say they are happy with the support they have got from the rest of the EU and are not looking for new decisions. |
| What they do want is a united EU front on Kosovo, after Russia blocked a Western-backed resolution at the United Nations which Moscow claimed would have led to independence for the Serbian province. | What they do want is a united EU front on Kosovo, after Russia blocked a Western-backed resolution at the United Nations which Moscow claimed would have led to independence for the Serbian province. |