JURIST - Paper Chase: Spain, Italy pledge support for EU constitution revival

[JURIST] The prime ministers of Spain and Italy have pledged to support Germany in reviving the European Constitution [JURIST news archives]. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero [official website, in Spanish; BBC profile] and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi [official website], whose countries both ratified the Constitution, made the announcement Tuesday after an annual summit on the island of Ibiza.

In 2005, the constitution was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports]. After assuming the six-month EU Presidency on January 1, German Chancellor Angela Merkel [official website, in German; BBC profile] promised to put the constitution back on the EU agenda and encouraged EU member nations to ratify the charter [JURIST reports] before the next round of European Parliament elections scheduled for June 2009. Last week, French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy [official website, in French; BBC profile] proposed adoption of a limited constitution [JURIST report]. EU Business has more. El Pais has local coverage [in Spanish].