British government faces fresh calls for EU treaty referendum

(LONDON) - Britain's Conservative opposition and members of the governing Labour Party raised pressure on the government Sunday to hold a European Union treaty referendum.

The move comes after French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at the G8 summit in Germany on Thursday that he and British Prime Minister Tony Blair had agreed on "what could be the framework of a simplified treaty" for the European Union.

There are fears that Blair, before he leaves office on June 27, is preparing to commit Britain to a new treaty after French and Dutch voters defeated the treaty in referenda in 2005.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, Conservative leader David Cameron said the public would have to weigh in on any move affecting British powers and put Blair's successor Gordon Brown in a possible bind.

"Any treaty that is about the transfer of powers to the EU must be put to the country in a referendum," Cameron told the newspaper.

The new treaty, the newspaper said, will establish a permanent EU president with a two-and-a-half year term of office and create a new EU foreign minister.

It will also provide for a review of voting rights as well as reducing Britain's influence in Brussels.

Political pressure forced Blair to change course and pledge to hold a referendum on the constitution but he ended up not having to go ahead following the vote in France and the Netherlands.

Backing Cameron were Conservative Party donor Stuart Wheeler and former cabinet minister John Redwood as well as Labour members of parliament.

"I have always felt we should have a referendum if the changes are of a fundamental nature," Labour MP Lynne Jones said. "I was broadly in favour of the constitution but I also feel there ought to be a referendum on it."

Frank Field, the former social security minister, outlined the dilemma faced by Brown.

"One of the more popular things Tony Blair did was promising a referendum," Field told the newspaper.

"Going back on that is against all the rhetoric of a government which says it wants to reconnect with a disillusioned if not hostile electorate. This is the first test of Gordon's views," he said.

Sarkozy said in Germany Friday that he will go to London soon to discuss a proposed new European treaty with Blair and the incoming leader Brown.

Sarkozy said Thursday that he and Blair had agreed on "what could be the framework of a simplified treaty" for the European Union.

"We agreed on the fact that it must be a new treaty and not a little constitution... Things are progressing."

Eighteen of the 27 EU member states have already ratified the text but Britain is among countries who want it to be re-written.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU, wants to agree the outline of a new treaty enshrining reforms and unveil the plan at a summit in Brussels on June 21-22.