Merkel wil grondwet in verjaardagsverklaring EU (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - German chancellor Angela Merkel is facing the first real test of her efforts to push a revised EU constitution as she seeks to convince EU leaders this week to include a reference to a new treaty in the EU's 50th anniversary declaration.

Ms Merkel is likely to raise the constitutional issue during a dinner with EU counterparts on Thursday evening (8 March) where she will outline her ideas for the so-called Berlin declaration to be signed by EU leaders and institutions on 25 March.

The two to three page declaration - which will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1957 Treaty of Rome laying the foundation for the current EU - is set to consist of three main parts, on European history, European values and the current challenges facing the union.

But the German EU presidency also wants to conclude the document with a fourth element, a paragraph which would call upon EU member states to find a solution to the political impasse following the rejection of the EU constitution by French and Dutch voters in 2005.

"The question of what we need in terms of institutions in order to go forward with the union is the crucial issue for Berlin here," EU diplomats said.

In a consultation round with member states' so-called "sherpas" - government appointees for confidential talks with Berlin on the EU constitution - it emerged that Ms Merkel wants member states to commit themselves in the anniversary text to deadlines for both the agreement of a re-negotiated constitution text and its ratification.

German Europe minister Guenther Gloser said last week a re-negotiated constitution would have to be agreed by the end of 2007 or the beginning of 2008, so there would be a long enough time to ratify by the European elections in 2009.

But language on a constitutional timetable is opposed by the UK, Poland and the Netherlands, which seek far-reaching changes to the EU constitution and dislike the idea of a fast-moving constitutional revival process.

London, Warsaw, The Hague as well as Paris would also oppose any wording suggesting that the EU constitution should form the basis of a new EU treaty - a philosophy promoted by the 18 member states which already ratified the constitution.

"I don't think there is an agreement among member states on a sort of bridge at the end of the Berlin declaration to the EU constitution. I rather expect a reference to the coming willingness of the member states to work further towards a treaty settlement," Polish sherpa Marek Cichocki told EUobserver.

EU diplomats said however that the divisions over the issue could be fudged by vague language such as that used by EU leaders in conclusions last June, where they said that they would "continue the reform process" taking the "necessary steps" to that effect before 2009.

A French contact adding that Paris would probably agree to terms like "institutional settlement."

Euro, Christian heritage

The constitution is not the only cause of division over the birthday declaration.

Thursday's dinner is also expected to cover other "outstanding issues" surrounding the birthday text - on the euro, the union's social dimension and some values-related issues.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said last month that he would like the euro currency to get a mention "as one of the great successes of European construction" - a proposal disliked by the UK and Sweden which are outside the eurozone.

A social-economic discussion over the document has also emerged, with nine member states including France, Italy and Spain recently issuing an open declaration calling for more promotion of social Europe.

"We thought it might feed into the discussion around the Berlin declaration," said a French official, with free-market states such as the Czech Republic and the UK however likely to resist too much social language.

Meanwhile, Poland is pushing for a reference to Europe's Christian heritage - something which Warsaw failed to obtain in the 2004 EU constitution text but for which it now sees a second chance.

"Maybe it would be easier to have this accepted in the Berlin declaration which will have no legal status, than in a preamble of a legally binding treaty," Poland's sherpa said.

"It poses a difficulty for us to have this included in a public political document," a diplomat from secularist France reacted.

With member states so far wanting a whole wish-list of issues to be included in the declaration, the text risks becoming too long, some diplomats warned.

"Once you start with two pages and then everyone starts adding in, you will soon end up with three," said one source.

It is likely that the first drafts of the declaration will emerge from Berlin only after Ms Merkel has tested the atmosphere at Thursday's dinner, officials said.