EU foreign ministers have responded positively to the latest Irish presidency draft of the constitutional treaty and reaffirmed their determination to reach agreement at this week's summit in Brussels.
Speaking in Luxembourg after a meeting to discuss the treaty, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said the ministers made particularly good progress on the sensitive issue of abolishing national vetoes on some policy issues.
"Colleagues were being positive and creative in their approach and making headway on the issues," he said.
The ministers reached agreement on the establishment of a European Defence Agency to promote joint arms projects and research, and appeared ready to compromise on issues concerning taxation and justice and home affairs.
Some countries restated their demand for a reference to Christianity in the constitution's preamble, while Greece and Cyprus protested against a presidency proposal to delete a quotation from Thucydides at the start of the preamble.
The presidency hopes to reach agreement on almost all outstanding issues in bilateral negotiations before the summit begins on Thursday, leaving EU leaders with only a handful of problems to solve.
These include the question of a new voting system in the Council of Ministers, the size and shape of the Commission, the minimum number of MEPs to be sent by each state, and issues surrounding economic governance.
The need to overhaul EU institutions was underlined by the record low turnout in European Parliament elections.
"We are well positioned to have a short, focused agenda when Heads of State and Government meet on Thursday," Mr Cowen said. During yesterday's meeting, ministers praised the Irish presidency's handling of the constitutional talks and the EU's foreign policy agenda.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, drew attention to the progress made by the presidency in advancing the European Security and Defence Policy.