EU budget compromise unlikely, referendum on constitution in question

Yesterday the budget proposed by Luxembourg was rejected by the United Kingdom, which refuses to let go of its budget rebate. Moreover, the Dutch Prime Minister demanded a reduction of the Dutch contribution by EUR1.5 billion. The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso stated that a compromise "will be very difficult" but is still possible. The heads of governments of the EU countries also discussed the proposed EU Constitution and decided that the ratification of the document will be suspended. The so-called "period of reflection" is to last at least six months and during that time each country may suspend the voting on the constitution. The Polish government planned to organize the referendum on October 9 together with the presidential election, but yesterday Prime Minister Marek Belka refused to state what the government's final decision on the EU constitution will be. According to Gazeta Wyborcza, Belka is hesitating whether to hold the referendum at all, but he will make the final decision together with the President and the Sejm Speaker once he has come back from Brussels. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1; Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) E.B.