Leaders of the European Union said there are no winners and no losers in the draft of a treaty approved at their summit in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the draft to reform EU systems a good compromise, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Europe was moving again, UPI quoted BBC News as reporting today. "You will now have a Europe with institutions," Sarkozy said Saturday. "This is a very important message." The treaty, to be finalized later this year and take effect in mid-2009, preserves much of the planned EU constitution but includes a new system known as a "double majority" to be phased in beginning in 2014 and fully implemented three years later. Under the "double majority," a 55 percent majority of EU countries with at least 65 percent of the bloc's population will be required for a change to be approved when the EU votes on issues, the BBC said.
