PARIS, Oct 8 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has agreed to raise some of Poland's concerns over the new EU treaty with the Portuguese European Union presidency, Polish President Lech Kaczynski said on Monday.

Poland, the biggest ex-communist nation in the 27-nation EU, has reluctantly agreed to the new treaty, which is aimed at making the bloc more efficient. But is still holding out for minor changes which would give it more clout.

Poland's main demand is to incorporate into the body of the treaty the so called Ioannina Compromise allowing small groups of states short of blocking power to delay EU decisions.

"Sarkozy has agreed to raise the issue of Ioannina with (Portuguese Prime Minister Jose) Socrates," Kaczynski told reporters after a meeting with the French president.

"We talked about the EU treaty summit which will happen in Lisbon and we're both very optimistic about it," he added.

EU leaders hope the Oct 18-19 Lisbon summit will approve the treaty, designed to reform the bloc's institutions and replace a constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

Diplomats believe the final issues with Poland will only be resolved when Kaczynski attends the summit.

The meeting ends just two days before a snap election in Poland and the ruling Kaczynski twins, who have often quarrelled with EU partners, are likely to be keen to show at home that the summit was a success for their diplomacy.

The Portuguese presidency published the final draft text of the reform treaty on its website last Friday after three months of work by legal experts without meeting Poland's key demand that a delaying mechanism for EU decisions be incorporated.

Diplomats said most EU governments were only prepared to have the Ioannina Compromise included in a declaration by member states adopted with the treaty, and not make it legally binding indefinitely in the body of the treaty or as a protocol.

The provision allows groups of countries short of a blocking minority under the new voting rules to delay a vote on a piece of legislation until the next EU summit, interpreted by all but Poland as meaning for a maximum of four months.

Poland has two other demands -- an increase in the number of advocates-general at the European Court of Justice to make room for candidates from new member states, and an increase in its number of members of the European Parliament.

Kaczynski said Sarkozy had also agreed to raise the issue of the number of advocates-general with Socrates.

EU diplomats have said Poland would probably win something on each of these points as compensation if it accepted that the Ioannina Compromise would not be in the treaty.

bdnews24.com/lq/1854hrs