EU: European Union leaders will hold a special summit this autumn to discuss the future political direction of the European project after the French and Dutch referendums.
Before the meeting, which will be held in Britain, the European Commission will draw up a report on the sustainability of the European social model.
British prime minister Tony Blair announced the summit yesterday at the launch in London of Britain's six-month EU presidency. He said the meeting, which will be informal, was part of the period of reflection and debate called for by European leaders at the end of last month's summit in Brussels.
"It grows out of conversations I've had with various people in Europe ... It seems sensible to have some form of reflection by the leaders themselves," he said.
German chancellor Gerhard Schröder and Dutch prime minister Jan-Peter Balkenende have suggested in recent weeks that EU leaders should meet for an informal dinner to improve the atmosphere between them.
Mr Blair said that Europe wanted a strong, competitive economy and also to maintain social protection, but that the social model had to adapt to new challenges.
"I believe in Europe with a strong social dimension ... But it is no use us trying to compete in a different, changing world unless we're prepared to make the changes necessary," he said.
The commission's president, Jose Manuel Barroso, welcomed the prospect of a special summit but said the idea of solidarity was at the core of the European project.
"I believe a European Union without a strong social dimension is not a union ... Our European Union is not only about markets," he said.
Mr Barroso said that boosting economic growth was essential if Europe is to be able to preserve its social model, and that the commission remained committed to its agenda of economic reform to improve growth and create jobs.
He said one reason European citizens were unhappy with the EU was that EU summits are often reported in terms of winners and losers.
"We have to educate them ... to explain to our people the culture of compromise," he said.
Mr Barroso acknowledged that it was "a rough time in European politics" but said it was important that the EU remained dynamic.
"We should avoid any risk of paralysis. We need to show that Europe is in business," he said.
Mr Blair said Britain hoped to conclude a deal on the EU's next seven-year budget during its presidency but suggested that any new negotiations would focus on the December summit. He said the issue of the budget was linked to the broader debate on Europe's social model and the political direction of the EU.
During a discussion with European journalists after the launch of the presidency, Mr Blair acknowledged that each EU country is likely to retain its own specific social system. But he said that action was possible at a European level without harmonising legislation or imposing new social rules on member states.
He said improving standards in higher education should be a priority for the EU, noting that the best universities were now more likely to be found in the United States and increasingly in Asia.
Mr Blair said there was little disagreement among EU leaders about the need for reform, and most of the essential steps were mapped out in a report by the former Dutch prime minister, Wim Kok.
"It's not as if we haven't discussed all this before ... It is better if Europe collectively exercises a will to reform because then it is easier in individual countries," he said.