Poland: Poland may hold a referendum on the new European Union constitution if its demands to change the proposed charter are ignored, Prime Minister Mr Leszek Miller said yesterday.
The draft constitution, debated by EU leaders on Saturday at a summit which kicked off an intergovernmental conference, would fail if any of the bloc's 15 members or 10 newcomers reject it - be it in a referendum or a parliamentary vote.
Poles may vote No to the constitution, politicians say, given the strong reservations of both the left-wing government and the opposition to the draft proposed in June.
"There is no need now to decide on the referendum. This issue should be left for the end of the intergovernmental conference, depending on its outcome," Mr Miller said.
Poland and Spain have emerged as the draft's strongest critics, saying it would deprive them of the clout they gained under the EU's three-year-old Nice Treaty.
Mr Miller said Poles had approved EU accession in a June referendum, convinced that their entry terms were those envisaged by the Nice Treaty.
"It may be necessary to ask the Poles about their opinion if it turns out that there is a big difference between what we said in our referendum campaign, encouraging the Poles to vote Yes, and the outcome of the intergovernmental conference," he said.
The new draft envisages many decisions at the EU's ministerial councils being taken by a simple majority of states representing at least 60 per cent of the EU's population.