Groeiende scepsis over lot Europese Grondwet (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An EU foreign minister's discussion on the fate of the bloc's constitution revealed continuing major divisions between member states.

The Austrian EU presidency is sceptical about whether it can come up with a solution by June, the time when member states are supposed to evaluate the so-called period of reflection.

This time-out period was agreed by member states last year after the shock rejections first by France and then the Netherlands of the constitution in referendums.

Austrian foreign minister Ursula Plassnik hinted Vienna is not going to come up with a miracle recipe by the June summit.

Thursday's discussion saw governments divided over whether the constitution has in effect been killed off, or if it is possible still to revive it.

"It seemed like every minister had a different opinion," Slovak foreign minister Eduard Kukan told journalists on late Thursday (23 March).

He said some of his colleagues referred to the constitution as being "dead," or in a "vacuum," while others were keen to stress the fact that fourteen member states have already ratified the document and that this fact cannot be ignored.

"There was a plea for all the governments to agree on their clear position on where to head further because we cannot just escape from this issue," said Mr Kukan.

The ministers eventually agreed that they should meet again in mid-April for an informal meeting in Austria.

They opted for a castle rather than a monastary as the location for their discussion on the controversial matter.