Merkel & Chirac Setd Timetable For EU Constitution

The leaders of France and Germany have agreed a new timetable for trying to revive the EU constitution setting 2008 as the year when decisions on the document should be taken.

At the informal bilateral meeting in Rheinsberg castle near Berlin on Tuesday, chancellor Angela Merkel said ""A functioning Europe needs this [constitutional] treaty".

Both leaders agreed the constitution should be tackled in the first half of next year, when Germany is running the EU for six months.

"We have agreed that the constitutional treaty will be reviewed during the German presidency, after a period of reflection," she said.

She added that "a decision should be reached" when France holds the rotating presidency of the bloc in the second half of 2008.
 
FULL STORY at http://euobserver.com/9/21782