The far-right Freedom Party, junior partner in Austria's centre-right coalition, said on Saturday it wanted a referendum on plans to enlarge the European Union following Ireland's vote to reject them.
Vice-Chancellor and Freedom Party leader Ms Susanne Riess-Passer said Ireland's rejection yesterday of the EU's Nice Treaty proved there was a crisis of trust between the bloc and its citizens.
The Nice treaty, hammered out at a fractious summit in France last December, is designed to open the way for the entry of up to 12 new states - mainly former Communist countries - by streamlining the way in which the 15-nation bloc is run.
"The problem we have in the EU is that really big projects that directly affect the people....are being decided over their heads," Mr Riess-Passer said on Austrian state television.
She said she supported the call by Mr Joerg Haider, former leader of the party and still its dominant force, to hold a referendum.
"Once we know what formation this enlargement takes, then the population must be brought into such a decision-making process," she added.