Poland has said it may drop its opposition over voting rights to allow a deal on a new EU constitution

"We believe that a compromise is not only necessary but possible," Polish Prime Minister Leszek Miller said. He was speaking after talks in Warsaw with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who said Berlin would stick to a voting system in a draft text. Last year, the EU failed to agree on the draft text because of opposition from Poland and Spain. Both countries have been keen to preserve voting rights in the Council of Ministers in an expanded EU, under a 2000 agreement that gives them a greater say than their population would warrant, compared to Germany, France, Britain and Italy. But Spain's incoming Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has already promised to look again at the policy. On Tuesday, Mr Schroeder stressed that the new voting system should be based on the "double majority" principle proposed in the draft constitution. Under the proposal, EU laws would be adopted by a majority of member states representing 60% of the population.