European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said today he thought a compromise to break a deadlock over the European Union's institutional reform might be possible at next month's meeting of EU leaders.
Mr Barroso said: "I think that we can have a clear and precise mandate then for an intergovernmental conference which could start just afterwards, maybe in July.
"So maybe during the Portuguese presidency in the second half of the year, we could have a new treaty which would then be ratified by the different member states."
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy met Mr Barroso on Wednesday to discuss his vision of a "simplified treaty" to replace the EU constitution that was rejected by French voters in a 2005 referendum.
Mr Barroso said a consensus was emerging among EU leaders in support of Mr Sarkozy's idea.