A Little Help From Friends

"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.

"Germany alone cannot bring all these issues to their successful conclusion," Merkel, whose country holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency, 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."

Mulling the bloc's future

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 Pöttering 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. 18 other countries have ratified the text.

Advocates of the treaty say it is essential to streamline decision-making in the 27-nation bloc.

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.

Portugal in favor of referendum

"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."

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 globalization in function of its values," Barroso said.

"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.

Merkel aware of pitfalls

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.

Merkel hopes to broker agreement at a June 21-22 summit on a roadmap for a new treaty to be in place by 2009.