The Polish parliament has postponed further debate on the bill to ratifying the Lisbon Treaty till Tuesday, 18 March.
The postponement, proposed by the Polish Peasant Party (PSL), is in order to find a compromise between government and opposition parties.
The largest opposition party, Law and Justice (PiS) want a preamble put back into the treaty on basic European values and also to widen the range of opt outs available to Poland in much the same way as the UK has obtained.
The governing Civic Platform (PO) states that PiS should make its amendments to the treaty in the form of a separate parliamentary resolution.
Left and Democrats (LiD), on the other hand, is pushing for a nationwide, two-day referendum on ratifying the treaty. Party leader Wojciech Olejniczak criticized PiS for creating confusion on the issue of ratification. According to him, PiS is ridiculing Poland in Europe, because at first the party supported the treaty when it was in power and now refuses to ratify it.
Earlier on Thursday, President Lech Kaczynski tried to find a compromise by inviting the chairmen of all parties to a discussion. According to his brother, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, it is good that the talks have started, but a compromise is a long way off. (mo)