Tony Blair and other European leaders are meeting in Brussels to discuss the future direction of the EU.

After last year's French and Dutch rejections of the EU constitution, the 25 leaders will hope to focus issues including the accession of Bulgaria and Romania and a sustainable development strategy.

Following a year-long period of reflection over the constitution, ministers are expected to defer the subject until late 2008.

The first working session will attempt to resolve the constitution question.

Europe minister Geoff Hoon, in an interview with the Financial Times on Thursday, said that Britain could not afford to ignore constitutional issues even if they were unlikely to resurface for a year or more.

He said two major challenges for Britain's relationship with Europe - how the EU is organised and how many countries should join - made it crucial to "rekindle interest" in Europe among British voters.

"At some point we will have to return to some of the issues we looked at in the treaty," he said.

"We don't know yet in what way and when. But they will come back and in those circumstances we have to get it right because I don't think anyone can contemplate a further defeat of those ideas."