EU Votes Worth Fighting For?

In another case of Warsaw vs. the EU (though surprisingly Prague is the only EU state on Poland's side this time), Polish President Lech Kaczynski is threatening to veto the proposed new EU treaty. The president met with German Chancellor (and current holder of the EU presidency) Angela Merkel over the weekend, and Merkel acknowledged the existence of several serious problems with Poland over voting rights.

The Polish president has said he will not agree to any treaty or proposed constitution that would reduce the country's voting rights in the EU. Meanwhile, the proposal of a roadmap for a new EU constitution will be the hot topic of next week's summit in Brussels - the last proposed EU constitution was rejected by France and the Netherlands in 2005. The new and simplified constitutional treaty will reorganize the EU institutions and help the EU to operate more efficiently.

But a trip to any Polish public institution is enough to convince one that the Polish government operates far from efficiently, and bureaucracy is still king here. So why should the EU become less bureaucratic and more efficient, especially if it means Poland loses some power in the voting process - right? Granted, in the current voting system, Poland is in a pretty powerful position compared to its population, and if the system were altered it would be one of the biggest losers. President Kaczynski has proposed what he views as a fairer alternative, and is threatening the use of Poland's veto if his views are not discussed.