Bertie Ahern, current President of the European Council, has put pen to paper and made an emotional appeal to the heads of state and of government of the Twenty-Five in recent days, urging them to proceed with conviction to the approval of the Constitution. The Irish premier asks for a firm and constructive commitment, aimed at overcoming the problems that still obstruct the process of finalising the Magna Charta of the Union; only the essential obstacles should, he says, be raised in the intergovernmental Conference. After thanking his colleagues for the work they performed during the spring summit in Brussels (25/26 March), in which the need to reach an agreement on the constitutional Treaty by June was generally accepted, Ahern declares: “We now have the common responsibility to our citizens to act in such a way that this commitment be respected. That’s why we must work together with a spirit of compromise and flexibility”. A decisive role will be played, in this direction, by the Council of foreign ministers (whose next meeting is scheduled for 26 April). Ahern also announced bilateral talks with the premiers of the Union in preparation for the European Council in mid-June. “I have the firm conviction concludes Ahern that so long as we continue to work together with a positive spirit, we’ll succeed in reaching an agreement, between now and June, on a European Constitution we can deliver to our parliaments and our peoples”.
