European Union leaders clinched agreement on a detailed mandate for a new treaty to overhaul the 27-nation bloc after persuading Poland to end a stand-off that nearly torpedoed their summit. The leaders on Saturday (June 23) endorsed a negotiating mandate and the convening of an Inter-Governmental Conference for a reform treaty to replace the EU constitution rejected in 2005 by French and Dutch voters. The leaders agreed to negotiate a reform treaty by the end of this year, to be ratified by mid-2009, replacing the EU constitution rejected in 2005 by French and Dutch voters. The deal, reached at 4:30 a.m. (0230 GMT) after a marathon wrangle, could relaunch the political integration of Europe after two years of gloom and introspection. "It did last for a long time and I am sure it can be subject to some critics but what counts for me, what counts for us is that we are moving out of stopage, out of reflection, we have began to move, we have a very detailed and very clear mandate...