Poland has right to block EU decisions for 2 years:PM

Kaczynski said it was a technical mistake that the guarantee was not mentioned in the record of the EU summit in late June. “Poland will raise this issue at a forthcoming Inter-governmental Conference,” the Polish PAP news agency quoted Kaczynski as saying. EU leaders agreed on a reform treaty on June 23 to replace the controversial constitution for the 27-member bloc. Poland had opposed to the idea of the “double majority” voting system, but finally made a concession after the summit agreed to postpone the introduction of the voting regime to 2014 with a further three-year period of transition.

Under the “double majority” voting system, bills require approval of at least 55% of member states representing 65% or more of EU's total population. It takes the votes of at least four member states to block any decision by the council. Poland had feared that the new system would give populous countries such as Germany too much power in decision-making. The intergovernmental conference discussing the new treaty will start this month and is expected to conclude in October. (people.com)