A "total disagreement" on member states' voting powers has prevented European Union leaders from concluding a first constitution for the bloc. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had chaired the EU summit in Brussels which ended in stalemate. Berlusconi said many agreements on institutional reform had been sealed, but more time was needed to bridge the differences on EU policy voting. The president of the European Commission backed him up. Brandishing a copy of the draft constitution, Romano Prodi said this was still the basis for Europe's future. The six founder countries of the European Community had said earlier they would make a common declaration on integration in due course. But at the summit's closing press conference Berlusconi said he would be against such an initiative by a core group. Talk of a 'two-speed Europe' was ricochetting round the back rooms. Everyone said the reason for aborting the intergovernmental talks was they did not wish to settle for a 'second-rate result.' A lot were gritting their teeth about the prospect of hammering on into the night. Yet one of the European Community's founders, Germany, while naming no names, only thinly veiled its criticism. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said: "The fact that one country or another put the European cause behind national interests is certainly what led to us failing to reach our desired goal." Spain and Poland were said to have shown some willingness to bend, but others had rejected various compromises put forward. A timetable for the continuation of negotiations must now be worked out by Ireland's six month EU presidency. Dublin takes on the role from January 1. It is a country that had such difficulty approving the Nice Treaty by referendum in the first place. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (R) and European Parliament President Pat Cox (C) speak at the end of their press conference following the European Summit in Brussels, December 13, 2003. (Yves Herman/Reuters)