Schroeder rules out German referendum on EU charter

Germany will not hold a referendum on a European Union constitution, unlike Britain, France and several other member states, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said yesterday.

"In Germany the constitution forbids the referendum and we will respect the constitution," Mr Schroeder told reporters after meeting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London, when asked about the French decision a day earlier to hold a referendum.

Pressure has built in Germany to follow suit as regional associations of Mr Schroeder's Social Democrats (SPD) have demanded a referendum.

"You can't explain why in some countries citizens can vote on the EU constitution and in others not," said Cornelia Hoffmann-Bethscheider of the SPD in the western state of Saarland in a statement.

The SPD in the northern state of Lower Saxony has even passed a formal resolution to hold a referendum on the EU constitution.

"We committed ourselves last month, even though we are not the ones to decide the issue," state chairman Wolfgang Juettner told Reuters yesterday.

"A constitution that transfers sovereign rights is such a fundamental question," Juettner said.

To hold a referendum, Germany would have to change its constitution, but the necessary two thirds majority in both houses of parliament is unimaginable as only the small opposition liberal Free Democrats are in favour.

Mr Schroeder's government will not budge, but some senior officials in his coalition have warmed to the idea of an EU-wide referendum, although none is planned.

A poll by the Forsa institute showed three out of four Germans favoured a vote on the EU charter, but even in relatively EU-friendly Germany the outcome would be uncertain.

French President Jacques Chirac's decision to hold a referendum is considered risky even though polls show a majority backing the EU constitution, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to face an uphill battle to win a "yes" vote.

If any EU state does not ratify the constitution, intended to make the bloc run smoothly after its enlargement to 25 members, there could be a new vote or the treaty would need to be renegotiated.

Mr Schroeder said it was a sovereign issue for both France and Britain to hold a referendum.

Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg say they will also hold referendums on the constitution, while Belgium, the Czech Republic and Poland are expected to follow suit.