Judging by her list of goals, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is going to have a busy six months as European Union president. On Wednesday in Strasbourg, Merkel presented her EU priorities  to the European Parliament. And the grocery list is a long one.

At the top of the list is jump-starting the ratification process for the EU constitution -- derailed in 2005 when both France and the Netherlands voted no in referenda. But she also wants to restart peace efforts in the Middle East and improve cooperation with Russia. German commentators on Thursday passed judgement on her speech.

The center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"Europe needs a European ideology. It is the only way to end the constitutional crisis. …Merkel is smart not to commit herself to specific elements of a solution. After all, she has to mediate between the different camps. But she leaves no doubt that the existing text should largely be preserved and that there can be no more additions to the EU without it. For Berlin, the time when EU-expansion had priority over strengthening the union, are over."

The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung lauds Merkel's approach:

"What Ms. Merkel did in Strasbourg was more than the presentation of her thinking on Europe, it was the beginning of an attempt to reconcile the citizens with the European unification, to reconcile the past with the future. At a time of constitutional crisis and faced with growing skepticism, she recalled the basic motif, the core of the unification without pathos and without sounding overblown."

Thefinancial daily Handelsblatt is more critical:

"Merkel's talk in Strasbourg was no grand speech that will move anything politically. …Merkel got too lost in generalities about all too familiar European virtues like solidarity, tolerance and freedom.

"The European parliament would have been the right stage to lay out for the first time how she envisions the path to an EU constitution. Merkel that ... it was European citizens who rejected the constitution. The logical consequence, however, would be that a revival of this project can't come from some removed government conference. Anyone who wants the people to regain their trust in Europe, has to include them in the fundamental questions of Europe's future. Politically, that can only mean that the national parliaments and the European parliament have to play an active role in solving the constitutional crisis."

Conservative Die Welt writes:

"The Germans have shouldered a heavy load in Brussels, they have raised expectations that will be hard to fulfill. …By naming 2009 as the deadline for the new constitution, the chancellor has moved an issue to the top of her priority list that doesn't have to be there. It's true: Europe needs better and fairer decision making processes. But that doesn't require a new constitution or a new contractual framework.... It would suffice to come to an agreement on decision-making procedures, which is exactly what Germany is currently blocking. It is quite possible that the EU-constitution will become a losing topic for Merkel.