Swedish parliament to vote on EU constitution in December 2005

Sweden's parliament will vote on the European Union constitution in December 2005 rather than hold a referendum, the government and opposition agreed on Wednesday, an official said.

"The government and the opposition parties are of one mind on this," State Secretary Lars Danielsson said after a meeting between Social Democratic Prime Minister Goeran Persson and the four centre-right opposition leaders.

The new constitution aims to streamline EU institutions and prevent decision-making gridlock in a bloc which grew from 15 to 25 members this year and is set to expand further.

The text has been accepted by all member states, but must still be ratified by each of them at the national level -- either by a referendum or a parliamentary vote -- before it can come into force.

In Sweden, only the Left Party and the Greens, which normally provide the minority Social Democratic government with a majority in parliament, had called for a referendum.

"We have a tradition in Sweden of being restrictive with referendums, reserving them for questions of great importance. This treaty does not entail any major change in Sweden's relationship to the EU," Danielsson told AFP.

"The parliament we have, ought to be able to decide on this issue," he added.

Instead, the five parties agreed to promote a broad debate on the EU and the new constitution, and a party leader debate will probably be held in parliament prior to the vote.