BRUSSELS, January 2, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Poland, Malta and Ireland, who are signed up to join the European Union next year, are seeking to retain independence in how they domestically regulate abortion. In Poland, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the head of the Catholic Church in the country, has urged the European Union to allow his country to set its own regulations on abortion—and wants the EU constitution to explicitly state the “separateness” of Poland’s policy toward unborn children. Malta, another of the other nine countries signing up for the EU in 2004, earlier this month negotiated a clause safeguarding its ban on abortion . Ireland is relying on Protocol 17 to the Treaty of Rome, which says community law cannot override the Irish Constitution’s prohibition of abortion. For BBC News coverage see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2609763.stm For related coverage see: POLISH LEADERS REJECT “PRO-ABORTION PRESSURE” FROM EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jul/02070403.html EU PARLIAMENT DELAYS VOTE ON INTERNATIONAL AID OVER ABORTION FUNDING http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/dec/02120509.html