EU deadlocked over labour issue

The European Union has announced that it is postponing scheduled enlargement talks with EU frontrunners until June 1st due to technical problems. In an attempt to play down the delay, Swedish foreign minister Anna Lindh, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters the delay was "nothing dramatic". Political observers have linked the delay to the EU's internal deadlock over the controversial "movement of labour" issue. In an unexpected setback on Monday, Spain blocked efforts to hammer out a common position on the free movement of workers inside an expanded Union, arguing that it first wanted assurances on its access to EU aid after enlargement.