The leaders of the EU met yesterday in Berlin to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the treaty of Rome. Th leaders of the 27 nations agreed to commit themselves to forwarding the process of integration from the paralysis that has taken hold over the past two years. They asked for a new co-operative policy to be put into place before the European elections in 2009.

The new text does not speak of Constitution or of treaty but of what can be put into place using the existing framework of directives and agreements.

In the declaration they asked for common values to be accepted throughout Europe and an agreement to fight together against terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration.

The German Chancellor, who is President of the EU, accepted that the pact yesterday is of minimum value.

The Spanish representative defended the new agreement and said that it went some way to toward the Constitution that was voted in referendum in Spain and ratified in 2004.

President of the Government, Jose Luis Rodrigo Zapatero said that he welcomed further cooperation and expressed a desire 'to have constitutional democracy through the union so to effectively guarantee its functions'. Zapatero said that Spain wanted a more agile system of government of the union with its own social model.' He said that Spain was in a position to rapidly adapt to a changing EU and highly respected.