With the EU Constitution in troubled waters and a call by an Italian minister to ditch the euro, Lithuanian MPs said they would vote on whether to put the introduction of the single currency to a referendum.

“We should not repeat a situation like when Parliament ratified the EU Constitution without finding out whether it had the support of the Lithuanian people,” said Rolandas Paksas, the head of opposition Liberal Democrat Party, which lodged the call for Parliament to vote on whether to hold a referendum on the euro.

Lithuania, one of 10 new EU members which joined in May last year, was the first country to ratify the new EU Constitution, endorsing it in a parliamentary vote in November.

“Liberal Democrats are not against the introduction of the euro in Lithuania, but we think that the decision on this issue of national importance, which will have a great impact on future life of the State, should be taken by all citizens of the country,” said Paksas, who was impeached from the presidency in April 2004.

The Liberal Democrats have gathered the 36 signatures required to force the 141-member parliament to vote on the issue. Under Lithuanian law, lawmakers must vote no later than one month after an initiative is lodged.

The French and Dutch rejections of the EU Constitution led to Britain putting a referendum on the charter on ice and cast a pall over European monetary union, driving the euro down against the dollar.

The no votes have also had a snowball effect, with voters in other EU member States which have either ratified the constitution or said they were in favour of it, turning up their noses at the text.