The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern will hold talks in Dublin today with the Finnish Prime Minister, Mr Matti Vanhanen, as efforts continue to restart negotiations on the EU Constitution.
Speaking ahead of the meeting the Taoiseach said: "It is in the Union's best interests to conclude the Intergovernmental Conference as soon as possible."
The Taoiseach will update fellow EU leaders at next month's summit meeting in Brussels, though he still remains cautious about predicting a breakthrough during the Irish EU presidency.
"I have been encouraged by my contacts to date and have found my colleagues eager to find a way forward. But it remains too early to say if that commitment to making progress can be translated into a compromise deal in our presidency," Mr Ahern said.
The EU's need for greater competitiveness will feature during today's talks in Government Building's following the latest evidence that countries using the euro are slipping further behind the US, UK and Japan.
Emphasising that targets agreed in Lisbon in 2000 must be implemented, Mr Ahern said the EU must step up implementation of the commitments. "This is of the highest priority if we are to achieve our goal of making the European Union the most competitive economy in the world by 2010," Mr Ahern said last night.
