Police fired tear gas Thursday at demonstrators who hurled rocks and set fire to a bank as European leaders gathered in this French Riviera city for their toughest summit in years.
Hitting the streets before sunrise, thousands of flag-waving demonstrators -- including trade unionists, anti-globalization activists and Basque nationalists -- got to within a block of the Acropolis convention centre, the summit's venue.
Riot police, trying to keep the shouting crowd moving through Nice's narrow streets, were seen by AFP reporters firing several dozen rounds of tear gas, as sirens whined in the background.
Small groups of demonstrators had fanned out in the city, breaking several shop windows and setting a fire in a bank, which was extinguished by firefighters.
At one location, riot police charged protesters who attempted to push through steel barricades just a few hundred meters (yards) from the summit venue.
Security around the center was especially tight, and special routes enabled official motorcades to steer around the blocked streets and arrive on time.
Up to 50,000 protesters from all over Europe were said to be in Nice for the summit, representing one of the biggest turn-out of demonstrators for any top-level European conclave.
Hosted by French President Jacques Chirac, the EU summit -- which formally opens at 4:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) -- must agree key changes to EU institutions to prepare for new member states from eastern Europe and the Mediterranean.
To succeed, the 15 EU nations must give up some of their national powers for the greater cause of European integration. But in the run-up to Nice, they have appeared reluctant to surrender more than a bare minimum.
European Commission President Romano gave the summit a 50-50 chance of success, in an interview published Thursday in the French daily newspaper Liberation.
"The probability of success is 50 percent. The positions of the individual states are still very far apart. But the situation is not hopeless," said the former Italian prime minister who heads the EU's executive branch in Brussels.
Leaders of the 13 enlargement candidates were also in Nice on Thursday for a morning get-together with the EU heads of state and government, who were expected to reassure them of their commitment to enlargement.
The guests include Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit of Turkey, which last year won EU candidate status, but which cannot open accession talks with Brussels before it is seen improving its democratic credentials.
Prodi told Liberation that nearly all EU member states have "taken positions in their own countries, which, if they are not abandoned or amended, will make it impossible to reach agreement."
Any agreement in Nice was bound to be a last-minute thing, he added, saying the participants would need to make concessions and the French EU presidency should show the way by taking the first steps itself.
In a pre-summit statement, Chirac urged his fellow leaders to "choose what is in the best interest of Europe" and go the extra mile to make Nice a success – NICE, France (AFP)
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