07/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - After a meeting in Berlin on Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Socialist candidate for the presidential elections in France, Ségolène Royal, has confirmed that she would like the future new Treaty of the European Union to be adopted by referendum in France, before or at the same time as the European elections of June 2009. In an interview with the French daily newspaper Le Monde dated 6 March, Ms Royal voiced her hopes that the third part of the Constitutional Treaty would be replaced by a “protocol dealing with new policies, social progress, public services and the environment” (our translation). In Berlin on Wednesday, she did not directly comment on Angela Merkel's reaction to this suggestion, but said “I believe that she is aware that in order for the French people to be able to subscribe to a treaty once again, the social dimension of Europe must be reinforced”. (hb)