Britain, France and Germany are planning to send a letter to the European Commission with proposals to stimulate economic growth and boost research and development ahead of next month's Dublin summit.
The text of the letter is due to be agreed at Wednesday's informal tripartite summit in Berlin hosted by German Chancellor Mr Gerhard Schröder and attended by French president Mr Jacques Chirac and British prime minister Mr Tony Blair.
The initiative will tread a fine diplomatic line by trying to signal the three leaders' determination to find common ground to steer EU policy while avoiding the impression of ignoring the views of smaller countries.
To play down the impression of the three leaders creating a "directoire", Paris has insisted on the Irish EU Presidency being kept in the picture both before and after this week's meeting.
This contrasts with the secrecy of the first trilateral encounter last September and the lack of advance warning over a subsequent proposal from the three on EU budgetary policy.
The letter will underline the three leaders' concern to revive the EU's flagging "Lisbon agenda" of reforms designed to make European economies more competitive and catch up on US-style productivity and innovation by 2010.
The Berlin meeting will include finance and labour ministers - with Britain providing input on labour markets, Germany on technology and research and development and France on social issues.
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