The negotiations have made little progress

With two weeks to go - and not a deal in sight - EU foreign ministers open two days of talks Friday to sort out disagreements on a European Union constitution designed to keep the bloc manageable as it takes in 10 new members next May. Ahead of the talks, officials said prospects for a deal were slim and some said the talks were on "the brink of failure." At the EU head office in Brussels, Belgium, officials complain Italy, which chairs the negotiations that began in early October, has let EU governments endlessly state their views on the charter without pushing for a compromise. "There has been the setting out of different national positions one next to the other," EU Commission spokesman Stefaan De Rynck said. "This is taking the (constitutional) conference to the brink of failure." The plan is for the EU leaders to endorse the draft constitution at a Dec. 12-13 summit meeting in Brussels. The constitution, which is meant to streamline the running of the EU, would then be ratified by the parliaments of the 15 EU states and those of the 10 newcomers that join on May 1. Several EU countries plan referendums.