ROME, Jan. 2 (Xinhuanet) -- A two-speed Europe might be inevitable if the leaders of the Europe Union (EU) members can not hammer out an agreement on the bloc's new constitution in 2004, European Commission President Romano Prodi said Friday.

    In an interview with La Republica daily released in the day, Prodi said "It is clear that if the situation does not unblock in 2004 then some (countries) could, and perhaps should take the initiative to go forward."

    "They might be (EU) founder members. Or even, and this is more likely and more desirable, a mixed group of old and new states that share the same view of Europe," the president said.

    "The union train can not always move at the speed of the slowest wagon. In fact, I have the impression that some of the wagons do not want to move or even want to go backward," he said.

    Leaders of the EU members failed to agree on the controversial voting rights in the draft constitution at their summit in Dec. 2003.

    Countries such as Germany, France, Italy and Britain supported the draft constitution that allows major decisions to be adopted by a so-called "double majority," or a majority representing 60 percent of the EU population.

    Poland and Spain, however, insisted on keeping the current system, under which Spain gets almost the same number of votes as that of Germany, a country twice its population.

    German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warned after the summit that a definitive failure to agree on a constitution could lead toa two-speed Europe.

    With 10 countries set to assume full membership this May, bringing the bloc's members from the current 15 to 25, the EU faces the colossal task of drafting a constitution that will replace the key EU treaties endorsed over the past five decades asa single document guiding its future development. Enditem