HAMBURG, Germany, July 21 (AFP) - A large majority of Germans consulted in an opinion poll want the opportunity to vote on the new European Union constitution, which the government plans to ratify by a simple parliamentary vote, the weekly news magazine Stern said.
The poll, carried out by the Forsa institute last week, found that 81 percent of respondents favoured adopting the constitution by a referendum, even though such a procedure is not allowed for under current German law.
Only 16 percent of respondents said they were against a referendum, with three percent refusing to take a position on the issue, the magazine said in its issue due to appear on Thursday.
Germany's constitution does not allow for national referendums, and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said that the EU text will be ratified by a simple vote in parliament.
However many of Germany's major partners in the EU are planning to hold referendums, including France, Britain and Spain.
Several German politicians, including some members of Schroeder's own Social Democratic Party, have come out in favour of a referendum.
The Forsa poll was carried out by consulting 1,001 people on July 15 and 16, Stern said.
Schroeder has said he wants Germany to ratify the EU constitution by the end of this year, which would make it one of the first of the EU's 25 member states to make a decision on the text.
The EU constitution has to be ratified by all 25 member countries to come into force.
To date Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Greece, Lithuania, Malta and Sweden, in addition to Germany, have said they will use a simple parliamentary vote.
Britain, Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain have said they will hold referendums, and the remaining nine states have not yet taken a decision.