By Daisy Ayliffe - 15th December 2006
The EU is stepping up the fight to salvage parts of its moribund constitution.
At a summit in Brussels on Friday heads of government vowed to “continue the reform process” by reserrecting parts of the treaty.
On Thursday the Finnish presidency presented leaders with an assessment of EU preparedness for constitutional progress.
European commission president José Manuel Barroso later told reporters progress would be made under the German EU presidency that starts on January 1.
“I’m really confident that during the German presidency we will see some important progress in this area,” he told reporters.
But plans for a revival of the text that was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands still threatens to split member states.
18 countries ratified the constitutional treaty first time around and are hopeful it can be resurrected in some form in the not too distant future.
But Britain, France, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic are arguing for a more minimalist text.
Addressing journalists on Friday French president Jacques Chirac conceded that Europe’s institutions are increasingly feeling the strain of new member states.
He said some form of institutional reform is necessary to propel Europe forward.
“After the EU grew to over 15 member states we realised grave institutional problems,” he conceded.
“We are not in an ideal situation and that is why we need some form of institutional reform.”
Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek was more pessimistic.
He described the constitution as “a non-issue”.
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