All but one of Germany's 16 states voted to ratify the European Union's Reform Treaty today but Berlin was forced to abstain due to a disagreement in its coalition government.
The passing of the treaty in the upper house means it now needs only the formality of a signature from President Horst Koller.
Berlin, whose coalition government is led by the pro-treaty Social Democrats, was unable to vote because the Left Party, its coalition partner, opposes the charter.
Germany's vote has tipped the scales - fourteen EU countries have now ratified the treaty, which means it needs the votes of a further thirteen before it passes into law.
Yahoo! MyWeb
