BRUSSELS : Year Late, Ecu Short

Leaders of the 12 European Community nations meet here Friday ostensibly to celebrate ratification of the Maastricht Treaty--that much-disputed document that commits most of the Continent’s rich nations to an economic, monetary and political union by the turn of the century.

But behind the photo-op smiles and champagne, all 12 leaders know there is far less to cheer about than meets the eye. As the treaty finally comes into force next Monday, nearly a year later than planned, its lofty goals have become virtually impossible to achieve within the stated time frame.

Last summer’s de facto collapse of the European Monetary System and the glaring foreign policy differences among EC members on how to resolve the conflict in the former Yugoslav federation have seen to that.