Barroso denkt na over "alternatieven" voor huidige Europese Grondwet (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso i has said his institution is working on "alternatives" to the EU constitution, suggesting Brussels believes the current text will not survive and needs changes.

Mr Barroso on Wednesday (15 June) added weight to remarks by Italian prime minister Romano Prodi i who said last month that "it is impossible to go ahead with exactly the same text," arguing that the risk of a second "no" to the treaty in France or the Netherlands was too high.

When asked by journalists about the ideas of Mr Prodi - his predecessor at the head of the commission - Mr Barroso said "We've been told by Mr Prodi that as it stands the text cannot move forward so we have to look at something similar but not exactly the same treaty."

"That is very interesting," said Mr Barroso, speaking in Strasbourg.

"I can assure you, the commission is preparing itself for this. I've heard many opinions within and outside the commission and I believe that when appropriate we will be able to make a positive contribution."

He added that "the day after the no from in France I started with a few people working with me looking at alternatives, we've been working on this for some while, looking at the different solutions and different ways forward."

Mr Barroso and his commissioners have been careful to keep their options open after French and Dutch voters rejected the constitution last year.

The commission chief has repeatedly said he remains committed to the "principles, values and substance" of the constitution - rather than simply to "the constitution" - hinting that Brussels believes re-negotiations over the text are inevitable.

But the commission is also cautious not to intervene in the debate by tabling draft texts which could offend EU capitals.

"I know the European institutions well. If I was to prepare not a green paper, but just a vague draft of a green paper, this would not be a positive contribution to a solution," said Mr Barroso.

Any intervention by the commission is likely to be seen as an affront by pro-constitution states Germany and Spain, for which re-negotiation of the current text is a taboo, as well as by France, the Netherlands and the UK, which are wary of attempts to push the charter through the back door.

"The conditions are not yet ripe for the tabling of any draft which could be the basis of a European consensus," said Mr Barroso.

Memories of the turmoil caused by "Penelope", an unofficial draft constitution drawn up by ex-commission president Prodi's team at the end of 2002 are still fresh in the commission's Berlaymont headquarters.

The draft, seen by many as a federalist blueprint, suggested that member states which did not approve the text should leave the union.

The document, leaked to the press, infuriated commissioners who were not part of the drafting exercise, with Brussels later taking a much less ambitious stance in the European Convention i, the body which drafted the EU constitution.