Brussels, 05/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - Chairman of the European Parliament's constitutional affairs committee Jo Leinen (PES, Germany) believes that the EU should have a Treaty on Climate Protection. “The European Union has to create the political and legal conditions for a consistent climate protection policy. … After the Single European Market, Economic and Monetary Union and Enlargement, climate protection policy could become the 4th major project of European integration,” Mr Leinen says in a press release. 50 years after the ECSC and Euratom Treaties, the EU needs a new treaty on the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency, he opines. This treaty could take the form of a special treaty on climate protection or be included in the draft European Constitution, he says. Mr Leinen also calls for mention to be made of climate protection in the forthcoming Berlin Declaration marking the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. (hb)