A veto in any country would quash the treaty.
Only Ireland is legally bound to hold a referendum.
Brown Defeats Bid to Force Referendum on EU Treaty
March 6 ( Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown quashed a rebellion in Parliament and escaped a referendum on the European Union's new treaty that polls show he would lose...
Thursday, March 6, 2008 | (Ouch! Like 19th century Amer. party known as Mugwumps.)
Polls rank Britain as the most EU-skeptical country. Britain refuses to adopt the euro currency, which expanded to 15 countries in January, or to enter the EU's passport-free travel zone, which swelled to 24 countries in December.
Conservative leader David Cameron says all three main parties should honor election pledges to allow the public the final say on the treaty. The party yesterday pledged to fight the treaty in the upper House of Lords.
Brown calls the document an "amending treaty" that grants the EU fewer powers than earlier treaties that Conservative governments put through Parliament. As such, only ratification by Parliament is needed, not a plebiscite, he says... Critics say treaty is little changed from failed constitution.
