'Friends of the Constitution' want 'maxi-EU Treaty'[fr][de] 

The meeting in Madrid on 26 January 2007, following a Spanish-Luxembourgish initiative, gave a strong backing for a "maxi-treaty". 

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said: "It is preferable to come at the present crisis in the Union with a daring proposal rather than a minimal one, which would inevitably lead to a minimalist accord which would be found wanting."

Representatives of the EU-18, which have ratified the current text, said they wanted "a political Europe that will play a key role in a globalised world" and called for more integrated policies in the areas of immigration, internal and external security and energy.

The meeting was also assisted by representatives from Ireland and Portugal, which have put ratification on hold. Denmark and Sweden have also sent a positive feedback, according to Luxembourg's Minister of European Affairs Nicolas Schmit.

Schmit said: "We wanted to give a message to the German Presidency, a backing message."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to hold bilateral consultations with the other member states. 

On 26 January 2007, Merkel met with the pronounced Eurosceptic Czech government to promote a revival of the EU Constitution. Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said that the EU needed a Constitution that was easier to access for citizens and more comprehensible than the current text.

The presidency is to present a road map for the EU Constitution in June 2007, in order to ratify a text ahead of the European Parliament elections in mid-2009.