Sarkozy must push for new EU constitution: Hungary

(BUDAPEST) - Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany said Wednesday that French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy must play a leading role in the adoption of a new EU constitution.

EU countries need to bridge major differences on the constitution at a June summit in order to have the document ready by the end of the year and ratified by all 27 member countries before 2009 European parliamentary elections, he said.

Voters in France and the Netherlands rejected a draft EU constitutional treaty two years ago in referenda, sending the bloc spiralling into an institutional crisis.

"I am convinced that Paris is willing and capable of playing a leading role in drawing up a constitution acceptable to all (EU member states). That is what we expect of France and I think that is what will happen," Gyurcsany said in a foreign policy conference in Budapest.

Sarkozy, who was elected president on Sunday, has said he favoured a "mini-treaty" assembling the most practical parts of the current draft, instead of a full-fledged constitution.

Gyurcsany conceded that it was "unrealistic" to think that the current draft of the EU constitutional treaty -- which the Hungarian parliament ratified in 2005 -- could take effect after its rejection by two member states.

At the same time, Gyurcsany said: "The ratification of a constitutional treaty -- or call it what you may -- can no longer be delayed."

The EU is desperate to end its institutional woes by 2009 to ensure the issue does not dominate European parliamentary elections that year and further undermine public confidence in the bloc.