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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in her final push to knock a few more items off her ambitious agenda as the EU president before Germany gives up the rotating position in less than two weeks. EU...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is in her final push to knock a few more items off her ambitious agenda as the EU president before Germany gives up the rotating position in less than two weeks. EU heads of state are to meet June 21-22 in Brussels, and the top item on the agenda is the ever-controversial EU constitution. Merkel knows that the best hope for passing any sort of constitution is to do it now. But after a week of campaigning hard with each of the states that are still not on board with her agenda, Merkel herself acknowledged that there still are serious problems going into the summit.

The problem is this: If Merkel cannot break the deadlock -- which has lasted for years -- it will be difficult, if not flat-out impossible, for anyone else to do so in the foreseeable future. Portugal and then Slovenia are the next in line for the EU presidency -- and neither of them has enough clout to push through such a monumental change. Though Germany says that it is just looking for a roadmap to the constitution, Merkel will need more than that to carry the document during the next two EU presidencies. There is hope again in the latter half of 2008, when France takes the presidency -- however, the leadership makeup in Europe at that time could produce even further roadblocks.

The largest concern is that a unified constitution will encroach on each state's national sovereignty -- this is why many different versions of the constitution are being promulgated. Merkel has two different versions she is pushing: one comprising the bulk of the original draft, and a second stripped-down version with only the bare essentials needed to allow the European Union to function as a unified bloc. Both versions are still hitting walls with quite a few states, but the two largest spoilers are the United Kingdom and Poland.

United Kingdom