ICE - special | All stories

European integration is also doing its bit for the rebirth of polish Health Spas. The small southwestern town of Swieradów was a luxurious German upper class spa before World War Two. Under communism, it declined to a rather dowdy, cheap, health resort. Today, Swieradów is finding a new prosperous era as western tourists, especially Germans, rediscover its charms.

In the north Slovak region of Liptov, some cheese makers fear the EU may do them out of a job. The region is well known for its special sheep's cheese - known as "bryndza". But the traditional method of preparing this delicacy is gradually dying out. And the blame is being placed on Brussels, which is demanding new hygiene rules... Martina Grenova went to Liptov to investigate...

One issue agreed at the EU summit was a 62 billion euro investment plan for transport and research projects - a lot of them in central Europe. Projects include rail routes between Ljubljana, Budapest and Kiev, the A1 motorway between the Polish city of Gdansk and Vienna - and the construction of a second railway line to the port of Koper in Slovenia.

14 years ago, almost to the day, thousands of people marched across the border between Slovakia and Austria at Hainburg on the river Danube. It was the first time many of them had done so since the Iron curtain went up decades before. One of the initiators of the Hainburg march was Martin Butora - who's now running as a candidate for the upcoming presidential elections in Slovakia. Martina Grenova talks to him about how Slovakia has changed over the past decade and what he imagines the countries future role in the EU to be.

As Poland works on its future EU policy others are worrying about the future of the EU without the streamlining that the constitution would have brought. It may now be many months or years before the constitution-writers take up their pens again. What impact could this have on the future of the EU? Heather Grabbe is the Vice Director from the London based Centre for European Reform.

Five Infrastructure projects in Austria will also receive EU funds. They include the Brenner road tunnel linking Italy and Austria, rail and water connections with the Slovak capital Bratislava and a motorway between Vienna and Sopron in Hungary. But is all of this well thought through? Austrian transport expert Hermann Knoflacher from the technical university says by developing more motorways the EU is heading in the wrong direction.

Christmas is almost upon us - a time of cosy evenings round the fire and carol singing. The Czech composer, Vaclav Halek, composes and arranges traditional Czech Christmas carols, but also carols from around the world.

After the washout of the Brussels summit, Europe's leaders have spent the week mopping up the mess. The constitutional negotiations collapsed over the question of voting rights in the enlarged EU, with Poland arguing to keep the power it gained in the Nice Treaty three years ago, and Germany looking for voting strength to match its population and contributions to the EU budget. But now many Poles are worried their Prime Minister's tough talk could spell trouble for Poland.

Defence policy was also a contentious part of the constitution debate. The mutual defence clause - which obliges EU countries to assist any other member that comes under attack - had originally been objected to by the EU's four neutral countries - Sweden, Finland, Ireland and Austria. Austria has since said it's more willing to accept a revised proposal. But why was the issue so important for Austria?

Among the other issues on the table at Brussels was the heated question of whether to add a reference to Europe's Judeo Christian heritage to the constitution's preamble. Some states like secular France are strongly opposed. In staunchly Roman Catholic Poland, on the other hand, government and opposition have united in calling for a mention of God. Other countries in favour of a reference to Europe's Christian heritage are Ireland, Spain, Italy and, perhaps surprisingly, the Czech Republic.