Poland deals new blow to French EU presidency

By Paul Taylor and Francois Murphy

PARIS (Reuters) - Polish President Lech Kaczynski compounded the problems facing the European Union on the first day of France's presidency of the bloc on Tuesday, saying he will not sign the Union's reform treaty for now.

Kaczynski said it would be "pointless" signing the document following its rejection by Irish voters in a referendum on June 12. The treaty, intended to overhaul the bloc's institutions, needs the backing of all 27 member states to come into force.

Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, helped negotiate the Lisbon Treaty but his party is now in opposition. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said ratification was in Poland's interest.

Asked by the daily Dziennik if he would sign the treaty -- the last step needed for full ratification in Poland -- he said: "This is now pointless. But it is difficult to say how this whole thing will end."

Kaczynski's comments highlighted the problems facing President Nicolas Sarkozy at the start of France's six-month tenure of the EU's rotating presidency, but Sarkozy said he believed Kaczynksi would ultimately honor a pledge that Poland would ratify the treaty.

"He (Kaczynski) is a politically committed man. He is a man who has never broken his word, and who made a commitment in front of his 26 (European) partners. I do not doubt for one minute that this commitment will be kept," he told reporters.

Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner echoed his comments.

"I think Poland has decided, that it will ratify, and that the president, for reasons that are his business and not ours, does not want to sign for the moment. But I am more or less convinced that he will sign," Kouchner told France 2 television.

Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, said the treaty should be ratified. "We are convinced the treaty's ratification is in Poland's best interest ... It is hard to accept a situation where Poland would be put in the same position as Ireland, a very troublesome position," Tusk told a news conference.

A senior source in Sarkozy's office said France believed Kaczynski and Czech President Vaclav Klaus could be brought around to signing if they were told clearly there would be no further EU enlargement without the institutional reforms.

Both Poland and the Czech Republic wanted the EU to admit new members in the Balkans, starting with Croatia, and eventually expand further east to embrace Ukraine. That gave the French presidency leverage to get the treaty ratified.

"If you are saying (we) are using this as a shoe-horn, you are right," the source said.

NOT PERFECT

Poland's parliament gave the green light to the treaty in April. Kaczynski delayed signing it but had previously said ratification by Poland was a foregone conclusion.

He compared the bloc's situation to 2005 when French and Dutch voters rejected a more far-reaching EU constitution, which was later reworked into the Lisbon Treaty.