MAASTRICHT (The Nether lands). Dec 11: With agree ment on a political union treaty here Tuesday European heads of state and government have taken a step towards a Joint foreign and security policy for the 12 member Euro pean Community, reports AH'

While Britain s hesitations have limited its scope of ac tion. the EC has decided to scrap its decades-old mecha nlsm of "political cooperation-based on consensus decisionmaking tn favour of a 'common Sand security pokey

EC which during the recent Galf War proved Itself an "economic giant, a political dwarf and a military worm.* in the embittered words of Belgian Foreign Minister Mark Eyskens. should now be cm powered to intervene in the international arena more rapidly and efficiently and speak with a single voice.

The treaty endorsed here mandates the 12 EC states to

undertake "common action* and speed up the Implemcnta tlon of policy decisions through the process of qualified majority voting.

Under such a procedure. EC countries have a weighted vote based on the size of their population, with heavyweights like Germany and Britain granted 10 votes each, and tiny Luxembourg just two.

However, according to the treaty, community heads of state and government must decide by unanimous vote which joint moves they can make. Then EC foreign minis tecs are to decide again by unanimous vote which decisions can be taken by a weighted vole

Germany and France, which had hoped qualified majority decision-making would be the general rule for all joint foreign policy action, were obliged to accept a compromise tn order to keep Britain on board.