Minimal Changes Sought

The 12 questions cover a range of possibilities, including an opt-out from some policy provisions and dropping the term "constitution," deemed tainted in several quarters.

The original constitution has been ratified by 18 of the 27 EU member states but was kicked into the political long grass in 2005 when French and Dutch voters rejected it in national referendums.

The German EU presidency, which has arranged bilateral consultations with member states over an intensive two-week period from April 23 to May 4, is making every effort "to restrict changes to what is absolutely necessary to reach an overall agreement and ensure ratification in all member states," according to the questionnaire's introduction.

Among the most euroskeptic nations are the Netherlands and Britain.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said last Friday that his country no longer needs to hold a referendum on any new European Union treaty, a move welcomed by EU leaders battling to replace the bloc's near-dead constitution. Blair said the EU treaty he favors to replace the failed one would not require a British referendum.

"If it's not a constitutional treaty, so that it alters the basic relationship between Europe and the member states, then there isn't the same case for a referendum," he told papers including Britain's Financial Times.

Lowest common denominator

In the introduction to its questionnaire, the German presidency says that a European summit on June 21-22 should decide to open "an intergovernmental conference with a very precise and limited mandate" on the constitution, with the aim of getting it ratified by all members before the next European parliamentary elections in 2009.

The 12 questions are based on suggestions arising from previous bilateral negotiations, as the Germans attempt to discover what the minimum changes each country would insist upon are for a new treaty to be acceptable.

Hence many of the questions have been in effect drawn up by the less enthusiastic member states. Thus, there is a question about avoiding explicitly mentioning the primacy of EU law and another on avoiding the use of certain terms, including "constitution" and European "minister for foreign affairs," a post that was included in the original treaty and led to fears concerning national sovereignty over foreign policy.

These name changes would be made "without changing the legal substance" of the measures, the German paper assures.

Likewise there is a question about dropping references to EU symbols such as its flag and anthem.

Another question asks whether the member states believe that the original package of institutional provisions was "balanced" and "should not be reopened."