Germany, Portugal, Slovenia coordinate EU treaty

SINTRA, Portugal, May 12 (Reuters) Germany will need the support of the next two European Union presidencies, Portugal and Slovenia, if a new constitution for the bloc is to be agreed, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said today.

Merkel met today with the prime ministers of Portugal and Slovenia and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to hammer out ideas on how to coordinate the three countries' presidencies to revive the stalled EU treaty.

Germany now holds the EU presidency and will be followed by Portugal in the second half of this year and Slovenia in the first six months of 2008.

Merkel has made reviving the charter a priority of her EU presidency and hopes to replace the constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Supporters of the treaty say it is necessary to streamline decision-making in the 27-state bloc.

''Germany alone cannot bring all these issues to their successful conclusion,'' Merkel told journalists.

''But I trust that I have the support of my colleagues here, who will continue to show commitment to our course, to setting Europe on the right track and the right foundation.'' Merkel hopes to broker agreement at a June 21-22 summit on a roadmap for a new treaty to be in place by 2009.

A new, slimmed-down charter is expected to cover only key reforms such as a long-term president, a foreign minister, and a simpler voting system based more on population size.

''Naturally, what we want is that at the June meeting a consensus is reached so that it is clear what the roadmap is so that Europe can adopt a institutional treaty as soon as possible,'' Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said.

Portugal never ratified the treaty and Socrates has said he wants to hold a referendum on any new constitution, which would make Portugal one of only a few states considering such a move.

Barroso said the leaders had discussed in ''great detail the way forward for the treaty settlement and we hope that by the end of June, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Merkel, we will have progress on that matter.'' ''We need these presidencies to work together in a real team spirit, to assure the continuity of the direction of the European Union,'' Barroso said.

The European constitution may be easier to revive now that the uncertainty of the French presidential election is out of the way.

Senior officials from the EU meet in Berlin next Tuesday for the first joint session to thrash out the outlines of a new slimmed-down treaty to reform EU institutions.

REUTERS SS PM2315