Prime Minister José Sócrates announced at the end of the European Council in Brussels, chaired by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that the EU Portuguese Presidency starting on July 1st will convene an Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) beginning on 23rd-24th July with the task of drafting the future European Treaty. José Sócrates said further that the aim would be for the Treaty to be adopted in October, at the informal meeting of the Heads of State and Government in Lisbon.

The Prime Minister said that “a lot of work lies ahead of us, but now we have the conditions to progress. This objective is our absolute priority for the coming months”. Sócrates underlined that he wants to "speed up this process", by "first, drafting and approving" the Treaty and only then “discussing its ratification”.

José Sócrates stressed that for now “there is only a mandate and not yet a Treaty. There is work to be done on the basis of the mandate that is clear precise and accepted by all”.