As this year's Soccer World Cup has shown, Germans are indeed capable of working up a little enthusiasm. Now, a small portion of this excitement needs to spill over into the German presidency of the European Union. If Angela Merkel manages to steer an aggressive European political course but one which is not marked by skepticism and doubt, her tenure at the helm will have been a success. She could follow the example of former coach of the German national team Jürgen Klinsmann.

The European project, stuck in a constitutional crisis as it is, needs it badly. Since the 50th anniversary of the treaty of Rome, the beginning of a unified Europe, will coincide by chance with the German presidency, Merkel's team has a huge chance to make a push for the constitution and Europe's future. Hopefully, they will come up with more than sweet speeches and multicultural celebrations around the Brandenburg Gate.

The difference between the schedule and substance of the constitutional debate -- the difference, which the German chancellor makes in order to keep the damage down to a minimum should the attempt fail -- is too subtle for an average fan of politics. A fan needs to see concrete results in order to get enthused. To continue with the soccer metaphor, the fan wants goals, not dribbling.

Europe wants to know what should be included in the constitution, what rules will be given and how the constitution will be adopted. Two years of reflection after the failed referendums in France and the Netherlands should be enough.

To be fair, one should say that that the maneuvering space for head coach Merkel is rather limited. France is facing new elections. In the United Kingdom, a new prime minister will assume office in the summer. Nobody knows exactly how these two important EU countries will conduct themselves in the constitutional debate. In addition to dealing with the question of the future of the EU, Germany will urgently have to improve the relations with energy-rich Russia, try to get closer to possible energy suppliers in central Asia, and look for new approaches in the Middle East -- another important source of energy for Europe.

The council president could right away start cheering for Europe inside her own team. Many of her ministers are vehemently opposed to the European collectivization of their duties. They believe that everything bad has its origins from the EU bureaucracy in Brussels, everything good is decided in Berlin. This kind of oversimplified logic is on many accounts wrong and has to stop. Attacks on the authority of the European Court of Justice or the European Central Bank are superfluous.

Six months are a very short time for delivering on all the expectations, which is why this won't be an easy task for the German team. Germany chose the word "fan mile" as the word of the year in 2006 (to mark the street celebrations during the World Cup). It is rather unlikely that "EU Constitution" will win the same prize next year, but that is no reason not to give it a try.