European Union leaders seeking to reassure voters about the bloc's expansion ended a summit today far from united about the future shape of the union, set to grow to 27 members when Bulgaria and Romania join on January 1.
After two days of talks, divisions remained about further expansion beyond that date and on whether and how to revive a stalled EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who takes over the EU presidency from Finland on January 1, said the summit had created "a very good climate to solve certain questions" but promised no major breakthroughs during Germany's six months at the helm.
"I would advise everyone not to put us under too much pressure," she told a news conference, referring to efforts to solve a treaty stalemate expected to last well into 2008.
In a sign of the problems she faces trying to revive reform of the bloc's creaking institutions, Britain, Poland and the Czech Republic blocked a reference to ending national vetoes on police and judicial cooperation as envisaged by the charter.
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, the outgoing chairman, said the leaders agreed on the need to reform the EU's governing treaty and could not simply tear up the constitution text, which 18 countries have ratified, and start from scratch.
President Jacques Chirac said he expected France would be asked to put the finishing touches to any solution when it takes over the presidency in mid-2008, when most commentators expect him to have been out of office for over a year.
While most states accept that institutional reform is a precondition for further enlargement, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said "it is not Britain's point of view".
The EU leaders toughened their tone on future enlargement, insisting aspiring members fully adhere to entry criteria and tackle difficult justice reforms and the fight against corruption earlier in the accession process.
They endorsed a decision by foreign ministers this week to suspend a big chunk of Turkey's entry negotiations to sanction its failure to open its ports to traffic from Cyprus.
"The pace of enlargement must take into account the capacity of the Union to absorb new members," the summit statement said. The term "absorb" has been used by critics of Turkey's accession bid to point to potential difficulties in taking in a country of 71 million.
While leaders set no new hurdles to future expansion and reaffirmed backing for eventual EU membership of Turkey and the western Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, the new mood amounted to a slowdown of the enlargement process.
"Ours will remain an open house ... We have clearly kept the door open for Turkey," EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso nonetheless said.
Despite his statement, prospects for further enlargement are uncertain given a backlash in western Europe after the 2004 admission of 10 mostly ex-communist central and east European states and disagreement over institutional reform.
French presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy hinted yesterday he could block all negotiations with Turkey if elected next May, and urged conservative EU leaders to start working on an alternative "privileged partnership" with Ankara.
Britain, a strong backer of Turkey which sees it as a strategic link to the Muslim world, argued there should be no watering down of the EU's commitment to negotiate membership.
"On balance people recognise that one can't just undo what has been done and been agreed," Beckett said.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski, meanwhile, argued that if the countries of the Western Balkans had membership prospects, "so should Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova".