European Affairs State Secretary Janez Lenarcic believes that the constitutional treaty, signed by the then EU members in 2004 in Rome, presents a "good compromise for improving the functioning of the EU" and should be "taken into consideration in drafting a new deal".
Lenarcic, speaking on Tuesday at a conference on the EU's future in Brussels, said that a new document to replace all others was vital for the union's continued expansion and improving its internal security and global influence.
Enlargement is to be one of the priorities of Slovenia's stint at the helm of the EU in the first half of 2008 and Slovenia will stress the implementation of given promises during the 6-month period, Lenarcic said at the "Observatory on Europe 2007" event.
"The process of enlargement should go hand in hand with strengthening the (internal) links, as was the case throughout the history of European integration," Lenarcic said.
This means that the EU should wrap up a new contract on future as soon as possible or by 2009, the year of the next elections to the European Parliament, he added.
Slovenia is among the 18 EU members that have already ratified the treaty. The document is opposed by several other states, most notably the UK and the Netherlands.
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