LUXEMBOURG, June 14: Shocked by voter apathy and the victory of anti- European parties in Sunday's elections to the European Parliament, European Union governments on Monday vowed to work harder to convince a sceptical public of the merits of their Union.

EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg said the bloc would re-establish its damaged credibility by clinching a long-elusive deal on a new constitution. "We need to show that Europe works," Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen told reporters.

EU leaders meeting in Brussels for their summer summit on June 17-18 must reach agreement on the constitution because "we all know what is at stake: Europe needs a success," added German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.

But Polish Foreign Minister Vlodzimierz Cimoszewicz warned that the election results may actually toughen nations' negotiating positions. "It will make it difficult for all sides to give ground," Cimoszewicz cautioned reporters.

Even optimists admitted that with negotiators stuck on a number of still-difficult issues bedevilling the seven-month old treaty negotiations, a summit breakthrough would require patience and goodwill.

Governments would have to compromise and accept some "pain and discomfort" to get results, said Cowen, speaking for the current Irish EU presidency. However, discussions were moving in the right direction, Cowen insisted, adding: "Everyone is in the mode to do business. We are well-positioned to have a short, focused agenda for the summit."

Despite the upbeat comments in Luxembourg, however, leaders face hours of hard work when they open talks in Brussels on Thursday. While a number of once-thorny issues - like the decision to trim the number of European Commissioners from 25 to 15 or 18 in 2014 - has now been resolved, key questions related to voting rights, curbing national vetoes and references in the treaty preamble to God and Christianity still continue to ignite passionate debate across the bloc.

Seven nations led by Poland want a reference to Europe's Christian heritage in the treaty, a move opposed by secular France among others. Leaders will have to select a new president of the European Commission to replace Romano Prodi whose mandate comes to an end in November.

The treaty talks come at a difficult time for the EU. Most of the bloc's governments are still licking their wounds following the thrashing they received in the European Parliament polls.

The all-time low voter turnout of 44.2 per cent was a wake-up call to politicians who must work harder to explain the EU to ordinary people, any of the bloc's foreign ministers admitted in Luxembourg.

"Ordinary people do not know what the EU is - aside from the money," said Lithuania's Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis. "We all have to learn our lessons," said Austria's Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

One lesson that EU governments may be pondering over is what the lacklustre voter turnout in the parliamentary elections - and the rising popularity of anti-European parties - means for their plans to hold national referenda on the new constitution.

Seven EU countries - including largely Euro-sceptical Britain - have said they will consult the public on the new treaty. But if the EU assembly polls are any indication of what lies ahead, the bloc's governments will face an uphill struggle to sell the constitution to ordinary Europeans.

Centre-right parties dominate the new EU assembly, followed as in the past with the Socialists in second place and the Liberal Democrats in third position. The success of the anti-immigrant and anti-Europe UK Independence Party is a shock to many in the bloc who fear that British public opinion is turning even more hostile to the Union.

The ruling governments in France and Germany also receive stinging rebukes from voters opposed to their domestic reform agendas. There is particular disappointment throughout the bloc at the poor voter turnout in the EU's new member states and former eastern bloc communist nations.

This is especially the case since the parliamentary elections were held only six weeks after the 10 countries joined the EU in a historic reunification of east and west Europe.