Czechs say EU Berlin Declaration acceptable

...Czech Republic, a leading critic of earlier versions of the document, the country's top EU pointman said on Friday.

"The text is more liberal than could have been expected ... The final product is basically acceptable," Alexandr Vondra, deputy prime minister for European Affairs, told Reuters by telephone.

The declaration, to be released on the weekend during celebrations of the anniversary, sets 2009 as the date by when the union should agree on an overhaul of its institutions.

But it falls short of mentioning the term "constitution", an earlier draft treaty reforming the EU's functioning, which was rejected by voters in France and the Netherlands in referendums in 2005.

"It is a success that the word constitution is not being used and that the date 2009 does not mean a commitment that some new treaty must be done by then," said Vondra.