23/04/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, a spokesman for the German government denied reports, which appeared in the media over the weekend, that Chancellor Angela Merkel had sent a confidential letter to her EU counterparts, proposing the launch of an intergovernmental conference (IGC) in June 2007 to negotiate a new Treaty. In Berlin, however, it is stressed that the consultations carried out by the “sherpas” is continuing and intensifying. In this context, the German presidency has circulated a series of questions, member states' responses to which will help prepare the negotiating mandate for the future IGC, which the June European Council hopes to adopt. These questions cover, among other things, the removal of terms such as “Constitution” and “European foreign minister”, the replacement of Part II (Charter of Fundamental Rights) with a simple reference which retains the legal status of the Charter, the retention, unchanged of the institutional section (double majority, extension of co-decision with the EP etc.), the inclusion in the Treaty of new “challenges” (energy, climate change, illegal immigration, etc.), criteria for future enlargement and the strengthening of the social dimension of the EU. (hb)