Merkel calls for EU constitution push at mini-summit

(SINTRA) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday called on EU members to reach an agreement at next month's summit to allow Europe's stalled constitution to move forward.

"It is in our interest and it is our responsibility to allow Europe to act in the face of the challenges that confront us," Merkel said at an informal meeting of a handful of European Union leaders in Sintra, west of Lisbon.

"I am certain that we will accomplish it if we remain united, if we work together," said Merkel, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.

The meeting also included European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and the leaders of Portugal and Slovenia, which will each respectively assume the six-month presidency role after Germany. European Parliament president Hans Gert Poettering attended as well.

The session was called to mull the 27-member bloc's future but had no formal agenda or conclusions.

Barroso also pushed for an agreement on the constitution, which has been in limbo since French and Dutch voters said no to a draft treaty in 2005 referenda. Eighteen other countries have ratified the text.

French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy has proposed a so-called mini-treaty for the EU. After meeting with Sarkozy on Friday, outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair said he agreed with the idea of developing a simplified constitution.

"It's not about a mini-treaty or a maxi-treaty, but a treaty that makes Europe capable of acting to shape globalisation in function of its values," Barroso said.

Merkel said she was "perfectly aware" of the difficulty in reaching agreements in the past, but added that "my role, as president, is to find the right equilibrium between all those interests."

She has made reviving the constitutional project a priority of Germany's EU presidency. The next European summit is scheduled for June 21-22 in Brussels.