Dutch PM says new EU treaty "good to take home"

...home" to voters who rejected the EU constitution in 2005, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said on Saturday.

"I think we have a good story to say that this is really something different from two years ago," Balkenende told a news conference after EU leaders agreed a detailed negotiating mandate for the new treaty.

"The idea of a constitution and all the elements that go along with it ... is gone," he said, noting the Netherlands had also succeeded in introducing new elements such as a strengthening of the role of national parliaments.

But Balkenende refused to say whether voters in the Netherlands who rejected the constitution in 2005 would have the opportunity to voice their views in another referendum.

He reiterated his government would consult with a government advisory body before deciding how to proceed.

An opinion poll found this week that a majority of Dutch voters want another referendum on a new treaty, and that almost two out of three Dutch voters would approve it this time.