[JURIST] Following a Friday meeting [press release, in Polish] with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski [official websites] told the Polish daily newspaper Dziennik [media website] he was optimistic that a compromise on a controversial voting system for the European constitution [JURIST news archive] could be reached, although he later said it was too early to give details. His brother, Polish President Lech Kaczynski [official website], will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website] this weekend, but Polish officials have said there would be no chance of a breakthrough this soon. Many EU states are hoping that progress can be made towards resolving the impasse in EU constitution negotiations at a summit in Brussels next Thursday, but yesterday Merkel expressed doubts [JURIST report] about what could actually be accomplished at the meeting. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Kaczynski indicated that unless negotiations on the voting system were left open, they would not agree [JURIST report] to any proposed treaty.

Poland has rejected the "double majority voting system" found in the 2004 draft constitution [text], which is supported by 25 member states, because that system diminishes Poland voting power compared to the 2000 Treaty of Nice [text]. Despite Poland's concerns, a recent German report noting key stumbling blocks on EU constitutional reforms made no mention [Reuters report] of the voting system. Reuters has more.