treaty LONDON, April 20, SPA -- Britain will not hold a referendum on a new European Union treaty to replace the alliance's failed draft constitution, Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview published Friday. Blair said he expected EU leaders to agree on a framework for new, slimmed-down treaty at a summit in June. Efforts to agree on a constitution for the 27-nation union have stalled since a draft was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. Though there is broad consensus in the bloc that a newtreaty is needed to prevent gridlock, there are deepdifferences over how far it should go. In an interview with the Financial Times and severalEuropean newspapers, Blair said he expected to agree on«the basic outline agreement for a treaty» at the June21-22 EU summit. He is likely to leave office weeks later, according to a report of the Associated Press. He said such a treaty would not have to be put to British voters, who remain largely Euroskeptic. «If it's not a constitutional treaty, so that it altersthe basic relationship between Europe and the member states then there isn't the same case for a referendum,» Blair said.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/442623