EU Constitution Row
May 23, 2007
Prime Minister Romano Prodi's comments came as German Chancellor Angela Merkel was attempting to thrash out a deal aimed at retaining as much as possible of the EU's draft constitution.
Prodi threatened that Rome would not sign any unconvincing compromise accords.
"Europe cannot achieve ambitious results without ambitious reforms," he told the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday.
"In the last two years euroskeptic views have been listened to almost exclusively," said Prodi. "It is time to listen to those who ratified the 2004 treaty."
Warning to Euroskeptics
The Italian prime minister's remarks were not specifically addressed to any state, but France, Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic have all expressed reservations about the constitution and want its scope to be curtailed.
French and Dutch voters rejected a proposed EU constitution two years ago, plunging the EU into constitutional crisis.
Most of the 18 countries that did ratify the original constitution have called for its main planks, such as the institution of a European affairs foreign minister, to be retained, and they want a non-rotating EU presidency and the extension of the qualified majority voting system.
On Tuesday, meanwhile, Denmark welcomed Germany's attempts to ensure that "concrete decisions" are made at the EU summit on June 21-22.
Preserve core elements
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed support for the idea of a shorter treaty that would preserve the "core elements" of the original constitution.
"One solution could be a shorter treaty amending the existing treaties," Rasmussen said.
He said he was hoping for a rapid solution, which could see a new text approved by the end of the year.
Like Prodi, Rasmussen opposed calling into question the voting system agreed in 2004, which he called more transparent and balanced. He was speaking after talks with the German chancellor in Berlin on Tuesday.
Newly elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed a "mini-treaty" that omits controversial elements of the original draft, instead of a fully fledged constitution. The French leader visited Brussels on Wednesday.
Mini-treaty proposal
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has said he supports Sarkozy's plan for a simplified version.
The German press has reported that Merkel responded coldly to the idea of a mini-treaty when she met with Sarkozy in Berlin last week just hours after he took office. But Merkel on Tuesday said she was "very satisfied" with their meeting.
The German chancellor has said she wants to preserve as much as possible of the original text. Germany holds the EU presidency until the end of June, and Merkel is trying to get member nations to commit to a "road map" that will lead them to ratify a new treaty before the European Parliament elections in 2009.