A matter of many votes

Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński presented himself as a supporter of the EU during his trip to Brussels last week. He expressed his support for a reworked European constitution, as proposed by the German EU presidency. "We want the first stage of the negotiations to be completed by June," Kaczyński said.

Despite Kaczyński's declaration, the road to compromise over the constitution will probably be long and difficult. Poland's vision of the voting system differs greatly from what the European Commission is proposing. The proposed voting system, known as the "double-majority" system, would require most decisions to have the backing of 55 percent of member states with at least 65 percent of the EU population.

Poland's proposition is the so-called "root system" - a square root of the population would determine the number of votes a country would get. This system would decrease the voting power of the most populous nations. Kaczyński repeated Poland's square-root proposal, but added, "There is room for negotiation."

During the visit, Kaczyński boasted about Poland's economic growth. But he also credited the EU for the success. "We are starting to run fast and this is thanks to the EU," the PM said. (Reuters)