¡¡¡¡MADRID, Sept. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Spain and Poland issued a joint statement here Tuesday rejecting a new voting system proposed in the European Union (EU), just days before an inter-governmental conference in Rome to discuss a final EU constitution.

¡¡¡¡The two governments said in the statement that an extensive majority of the 25 members of the future EU would prefer the original voting system which helped maintain the balance between EU members.

¡¡¡¡Spain and Poland cannot, like other states, accept the "harmful" voting system, the statement added.

¡¡¡¡Spanish Foreign Minister Ana Palacio and his Polish counterpart,Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, signed the statement on the occasion of astate visit here by Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

¡¡¡¡The original voting system pits Spain and Poland, in terms of voting power, almost on a par with much more populous countries like France and Germany.

¡¡¡¡However, the acceptance of the new system "would produce an impoverishment of the Union, since it would radically diminish theweight of less populated states," thus, "the influence of the majority," the statement said.

¡¡¡¡Meanwhile, the statement reaffirmed that Spain and Poland wouldwork "to attain, as soon as possible, an overall satisfactory result" in the forthcoming inter-governmental conference with the intention of concluding the negotiations before the end of the year. Enditem