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Seni or diplomats from 15 EU states and members-in-waiting who are unhappy with a draft constitution for the enlarged bloc began meeting in Prague yesterday, the Czech foreign ministry said.

The 15 states are trying to form a united front ahead of an inter-governmental conference in Rome in October where the text is due to be finalised, diplomats said.

They feel the draft tabled by former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing favours EU heavyweights like France, Britain and Germany and are planning to push for changes.

Most of the countries were represented by their deputy foreign ministers and the meeting was set to end later in the day with a press conference by Jan Kohout, the Czech deputy foreign minister.

The 15 notably oppose replacing the EU's rotating presidency with a more permanent president and reducing the number of EU commissioners to 15 just as membership is set to expand to 25.

The Czech Republic, one of ten mostly ex-communist states set to join the EU in May 2004, had invited officials from 17 countries to participate in the meeting.

But the three Benelux states - Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - declined the invitation.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said in published remarks in Brussels yesterday that he believed the constitution should be accepted as is, while the Dutch government said it did not want to side with a particular group.

"We did not feel that it would be proper at this stage to align definitively with a specific group," said Herman Quarles, the spokesperson for the Dutch secretary of state on European affairs, Atzo Nicolai.

Greece yesterday said it had sent a senior official to the talks, but warned against creating factions within the EU.

"In general Greece is against the formation of groups within the European Union," foreing ministry spokesperson Panos Beglitis said in Athens.

"The formation of such groups does not help and sends wrong messages".

The meeting poses a headache for the leading EU nations who support Giscard d'Estaing's hard-won compromise text and do not want to go back to the drawing board after 18 months of haggling. – Sapa.

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