Topolanek: EU summit will reach agreement on outlines of new treaty

The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, has said he believes a key European Union summit next week will reach agreement on the outlines of a new treaty on running the 27-member organisation. Speaking after talks near Berlin on Sunday with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Mr Topolanek said Prague would only veto efforts to revive the same constitution French and Dutch voters rejected two years ago.

The Czech prime minister also restated his country's desire to see some powers returned from Brussels to member states. On Thursday the Czech Republic sent a proposal to fellow member states aimed at increasing the powers of national parliaments. However, it stopped short of proposing that national governments be allowed to completely block European legislation.

Czech leaders have consistently expressed reservations about any EU constitution. Prague is also supporting Poland's fight to prevent bigger states losing some voting rights.