No consensus has yet been reached on France's proposal of a simplified treaty to drag the European Union out of its constitutional crisis, a European Commission spokesman said Thursday. "There is an emerging consensus but that doesn't mean that consensus is already there," said spokesman Johannes Laitenberger. "The work we are undertaking has a positive dynamic but we haven't completed the talks yet," and much remains to be done before an EU summit on June 21-22, he told a press conference in Brussels. Laitenberger was talking the day after new French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Brussels to champion his idea of a simplified treaty, which would obviate the need for more unpredictable referendums. Sarkozy told a press conference here that the idea of a simplified treaty was "the only possible solution" to the bloc's institutional gridlock.
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