Germany's upper house, the Bundesrat, overwhelmingly approved the European Union (EU) constitution on Friday, in a move apparently to encourage wavering French voters to support the treaty in a referendum on Sunday.

Representatives from 15 Germany's federal states voted in favor of the treaty while one state, Mecklenburg-West Pommerania, abstained due to the opposition of the Party of the Democratic Socialism (PDS).

The adoption clears all legal hurdle for ratification of the landmark constitution. The lower house, the Bundestag, approved the document on May 12.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer urged the upper house to support the charter, warning the that a veto would be a disaster to the continent.

"The world will not wait for Europe," Fischer said.

The constitution, agreed in Brussels in June, 2004, defines the powers of the EU, stating where it can act and where the member states retain their right of veto.

Under the treaty, the EU Commission president will continue to lead the body responsible for proposing and executing EU laws.

But the European Council will elect a president for a two-and-a- half year term, renewable once. The system of rotating the presidency every six months will be canceled.

A new position of foreign minister will be created.

All 25 EU member states must approve the constitution before it can take effect. Lithuania, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Austria, Slovakia and Spain have already ratified the document.

France, another major driving power behind the European integration, will hold a referendum on Sunday over the treaty.

Latest polls show that the treaty will most probably be rejected by the French. Germany's approval is widely seen as a positive sign for the treaty's acceptance by their French neighbor.

A French "No" would mean the constitutional treaty is almost certainly dead.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will travel to France later Friday to assist the French government in campaigning for the treaty.

Speaking in the German Bundesrat on the same day, former French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who led the constitution draft committee, issued a last-ditch appeal to his countrymen.

"The day after tomorrow, I hope with all my heart, the French will in their turn ratify the constitution in a referendum," he said.

Source: Xinhua