In juli nieuwe onderhandelingen over Europese Grondwet (en)

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Intergovernmental negotiations to shape the final form of the new EU treaty could start as early as July, according to European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso i, who sees growing consensus for a simplified treaty.

He told French radio on Thursday that he was optimistic that EU leaders would be able to agree a mandate for the parameters of the talks at a crucial summit next month.

"I think that we can have a clear and precise mandate then for an intergovernmental conference which could start just afterwards, maybe in July," said Mr Barroso.

"So maybe during the Portuguese presidency in the second half of the year, we could have a new treaty which would then be ratified by the different member states," he added.

This outlook is supported by some in the European Parliament who believe that the current German EU presidency, followed by Portugal taking over on 1 July, should strike while the iron is hot and not let the issue grow cold during the two month summer holiday period.

German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok, a veteran of EU treaty negotiations, told EUobserver that he "shares" Mr Barroso's optimistic view that EU leaders can get a tight mandate, believing that as "nobody gets everything that they want" even apparent tough nuts such as Poland and the Czech Republic will be cracked.

If an agreement at the June summit is reached - Berlin wants to see as short a list of areas as possible that have to be re-opened - the European Commission and Parliament will then submit a formal opinion.

After that, it is a matter of member state ministers taking the decision to open the intergovernmental conference - something that can be taken at one of the regular foreign minister meetings.

"This is something that can be done in a very short time," said a commission spokesperson on Thursday, adding that there is a growing tendency to solve things as quickly as possible.

His words came after Mr Sarkozy said he believed EU leaders were "making headway around the idea of a simplified treaty."

Who gets to be at the power table?

While the procedural steps for getting an IGC set up are relatively simple - one particular issue is set to become highly politicised: who gets to sit around the table.

Mr Sarkozy on Wednesday insisted that it should be EU member states only, effectively banning both Croatia and Turkey which open membership negotiations last autumn.

This contrasts with the last IGC, beginning in 2003, where the ten mainly central and eastern European would-be member states participated as observers.

Meanwhile, MEPs are also fighting for extra places at the table. A paper drawn up by German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok and his Spanish socialist colleague Enrique Baron Crespo on the issue demands that parliament be fully involved at all levels of the talks "and to a greater extent than during the 2003 until 2004 IGC."

During that IGC, which fine-tuned the now moribund EU constitution, parliament had two representatives, Mr Brok and Klaus Haensch from the socialists.

This time round Mr Brok, Spanish MEP Inigo Mendez de Vigo and the Belgian Jean-Luc Dehaene are among those vying for the spot from the centre-right while Mr Baron Crespo is hoping to represent the socialists.

The assembly's political leaders will decide who from the parliament gets to go but it is up to the council - member states - to decide how many.