Portugal and Spain confirm EU polls

Spain and Portugal plan to hold referendums on the EU constitution - increasing the tally of national governments due to hold a popular vote.

Spain will hold a referendum "as quickly as possible", premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told the parliament on Wednesday.

And Portuguse prime minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said he would call for a poll in 2005.

Both countries are expected to support the constitution but the decision to go to the polls adds pressure to other countries, such as France  - where the result is less certain - to follow suit.

The constitution, agreed last week at the EU summit in Brussels by 25 countries aims to make decision making within the EU more efficient.

It must be ratified by all national parliaments by 2006 at the latest.

Britain, Denmark, Ireland, Luxembourg are set to put the treaty to the popular vote, while the Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Poland are also weighing up their options.

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