European leaders celebrated half a century of unity today by hailing the bloc's achievements in bolstering peace, democracy and prosperity, then pledged to end two years of deadlock over plans to radically overhaul the way the EU does business.
"Stagnation means regression," German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her fellow leaders, urging them to get going on discussing a new EU treaty.
Angela Merkel
"We must always renew the political shape of Europe in keeping with the times."
Ms Merkel appealed for support for a German plan that calls on the EU to adopt a new treaty by 2009. That agreement would replace the draft constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in referendums in 2005, plunging the EU into profound crisis.
However EU leaders are divided over how much of the old constitution should be retained.
Germany and Italy want to preserve much of the substance of the original text — Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told the summit it was "a very solid basis" on which to build.
However, the Dutch government this week insisted a new treaty "must, in content, scope and name, convincingly differ" from the constitution. The Poles, Czechs and British are even more wary about any changes that shift power from national capitals to EU headquarters.
A solution will not be easy. Mr Prodi said the birthday celebrations marked the end of "a period of mourning" over the failed constitution, but acknowledged the EU needed to "rediscover something of its creative madness" to find a way forward.
Substantive talks on the constitution are unlikely to get under way until after the French presidential election in April, which will see the departure of Jacques Chirac, who was attending his last EU summit in Berlin after almost 12 years in office.
Reflecting the divisions, the Berlin Declaration — marking 50 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome that led to the creation of the EU — did not include the word "constitution."
Instead, the 27 presidents and prime ministers gave a commitment only to place the EU on a "renewed common basis" by the time bloc's 490 million citizens elect a new European Parliament mid-2009.
Despite the criticism, EU leaders are aware of the need to overhaul the EU, which has grown from six original members in 1957 to 27 today, expanding its original role promoting economic co-operation into an integrated bloc with a shared currency, common borders and co-operation on areas ranging from the environment and immigration to defence and foreign policy.
Most feel that the EU's internal workings have failed to keep pace with the changes, leading to policy gridlock and handicapping Europe's efforts to develop a more assertive global role.
The stalled constitution would have created a bill of rights, a full-time EU president and foreign minister and faster decision-making.