Germany calls for new EU treaty

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for a new European Union Treaty but is facing lukewarm interest from her EU partners, the weekly Der Spiegel reported. "The federal government would like to further European integration," it said in its issue to be published Monday, adding that Merkel advocated a meeting of heads of state and government "to set a new legal basis for the EU." Der Spiegel said Merkel's European affairs advisor Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut led talks on the topic in Brussels and that a date for the meeting is expected to be set at an EU summit due in December. According to the weekly, one of Berlin's proposals concerns the role of the European Court of Justice, which "could for example acquire the right to monitor the budgets of member states and punish those that run up a deficit." But "the proposal has not stirred enthusiasm among the member states," the weekly added, saying that "at an informal gathering of 10 foreign ministers, a majority rejected the idea of such a meeting put forward by Germany's Guido Westerwelle." For several months, Merkel has stressed the need for "more Europe" to meet the challenges posed by the euro crisis. In late May, she said: "There are also steps to integration that will require changes to the (EU) treaty." "We have not got that far yet, but there should be no taboos."