Franse premier roept op tot snelle afronding Grondwet-onderhandelingen (en)

French prime minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said yesterday (5 February) that Europe is running out of time to find a deal on the Constitution and urged leaders to "progress very quickly in 2004".

Speaking at the conference of the centre-right parties in Brussels, Mr Raffarin said, "today, Europe has no more time ... this is why we have this duty to progress very quickly in the year 2004, to equip ourselves with our institutions and to make Europe's voice heard in the World".

He also praised the work of the Convention - led by fellow countryman Valéry Giscard d'Estaing - saying that "the Convention worked well" and that it was impossible "to do better with less time".

"Yes to an enlarged Europe, but also to a deeper Europe based around our Constitutional project", he concluded, adding, "the World needs Europe".

The upbeat comments could be interpreted as a shift in message from the French government, which was widely seen as one of the architects of the failure of talks over the Constitution in December.

France and Germany have since threatened to push ahead and create a "two-speed Europe" or "core Europe" if no agreement can be found on the Treaty.

And only three weeks ago, Mr Raffarin was warning not to rush the Constitution saying, "it need not be finalised in weeks".