Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar has challenged the European Union to speed the grouping's integration and reform. Mr. Aznar, whose country holds the EU rotating presidency, made his comments in Brussels as he opened an unprecedented meeting focusing on the union's long-term future.

Former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing is chairing the Convention on the Future of Europe bringing together representatives of 15 EU countries and 13 candidates. The meeting is expected to focus on preparations for the group's expansion that is to begin in the year 2004. The debate is expected to include the role of the parliaments of individual member countries in EU affairs and how the Union can make its common foreign and defense policies more effective.

Delegates say the year of talks could lead to the drafting of a new European Union constitution that individual states would have to ratify.

This is the first major European Union institutional forum that will be televised to the public. All previous EU reform debate took place behind closed doors.

Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.

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