Emma Jane Kirby BBC correspondent in Naples

Not everything has been resolved but the will appears to be there

But British officials say this draft agreement would just shore up European military capabilities in a way which would complement that alliance.

It is likely there will be some sort of military planning cell in Brussels in the Nato HQ - not in a separate building which was the idea once proposed by the Benelux countries and which so frightened America.

It is also likely that in cases where Nato is not involved, the EU will beef up their staff in an already existing strategic planning unit in Brussels.

The draft is now being chewed over by the other 22 member states and will also be discussed with Colin Powell.

Jack Straw batted away criticism from the Tories that the proposals were very bad news for Britain by insisting the pact recognised Nato as the "alliance par excellence of all participating member states in Nato".

Fair shares

Voting rights is certainly a key contentious issue. Although this new constitution claims to be all about uniting an enlarged Europe together in perfect harmony, everyone knows the bottom line is really who will wield what power.

The draft constitution proposes that a double majority system would work most efficiently: a decision would go through if supported by half the member states representing at least 60% of the EU's total population.

That would greatly upset Spain and Poland who, under the last EU treaty, secured a disproportionately high number of votes.

They have almost the same voting weight as Germany despite having populations half its size.

Some countries feel its time to share out the power a bit more fairly but Warsaw and Madrid will not budge an inch.

Probably in a bid to stop negotiations from grinding to a halt, it has been suggested that they should keep the status quo for now.

Jack Straw said he supported that idea as it would stop unnecessary squabbling and put the revision of voting rights on hold for a later date.

"The presidency have come up with what I think is an imaginative solution, which I supported in respect of the voting systems," he said.

"Which was to say look, the Nice voting systems will apply anyway, at least until 2009, it is only 2003 now, why do we have to have unnecessary argument about this, why not have a rendezvous clause for somewhere closer to 2009 and in the light of experience we can then decide whether either Nice is working or it's not working?"

'Bartering' ahead

There are still some big issues at the bottom of the pile which have not yet been discussed - should God and the EU Christian heritage be mentioned in the text, for example?

This is something Malta, Spain and Poland are keen to have in and something which would make France, which has a strong separation of state and church, very unhappy.

Jack Straw says he feels the meeting was much more positive then he anticipated and he feels that, with luck, the whole deal could be signed and sealed on time by mid-December.

But if you listen to Joschka Fischer, the German foreign minister, it sounds a bit more gloomy - he says he is gritting his teeth for a serious and tough bartering session in Brussels.

The encouraging common ground here is that there is no doubt everyone wants to move on from this constitution as quickly as possible.