Franse druk om grondwet-besprekingen snel te hervatten (en)

After failing to reach agreement on the content of the European Constitution, EU leaders are now contradicting each other on when to restart talks.

The collapse of negotiations last weekend (13 December) has prompted a raft of speculation over how long to leave before reopening talks - and the wounds caused by the failure of the summit.

The Irish foreign minister Brian Cowen said in an interview with the Financial Times that there was a mood of "cautious optimism" that a deal on the new treaty might still be possible in the first half of 2004, when Ireland takes over the EU helm.

Yet he warned that since Italy's Premier Silvio Berlusconi did not put in writing the bilateral verbal deals he held with the other leaders in the summit, Ireland's "point of departure", he explained, would have to be the draft treaty texts put down in writing and formally agreed by member states.

Villepin: No right to fail

In an interview with French daily, Libération, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin was also optimistic that agreement could be reached before the end of next year.

"One thing is sure", he said. "We do not have the right to fail. We want to have a Constitution for all European states before the end of 2004".

French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin also spoke in favour of a quick restart to talks.

Speaking in the French parliament, he said, "We trust the Irish Presidency to make further progress but, for us, there is no question of distorting the Constitutional project".

Poland disagrees

But not for the first time in recent weeks, Polish prime minister Leszek Miller found himself unable to agree with his French colleagues.

He said, in an interview with Polish newspaper, Gazeta Wyborzca, "I would prefer, of course, to have this Constitution, because it contains a lot of good solutions ... But I do not know if we can agree during the Irish Presidency".

Mr Miller also raised the idea of a complete break on talks, saying, "The very idea of the Constitution can be suspended for a certain period".

For his part, the man in the hot seat, Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern, told the Irish parliament on Tuesday, "if there is good reason to believe, in the light of my consultations, that faster progress is possible, then I will spare no effort to achieve it".