ROME, Oct. 29, 1992 (UPI) - Lawmakers in Spain and Italy overwhelmingly endorsed the embattled Maastricht Treaty on European unity Thursday, giving a needed boost to proponents of the agreement following a Danish defeat, a narrow French victory and an Ang The lower house of the Spanish Parliament ratified the treaty with a near-unanimous vote of 314-3, with the negative votes coming from the small Basque separatist party Herri Batsuna. The left-wing Izquierda Unida coalition split on the issue and eight of its 17 deputies abstained.
The lower house of the Italian Parliament ratified the agreement by a vote of 403-46 with 18 abstentions. Four opposition parties joined Socialist Prime Minister Giuliano Amato's coalition in voting for the agreement. The small Communist Refoundation Party and the extreme-right Italian Social Movement voted against the pact, while the Greens and the anti-Mafia Network abstained.
The vote in Italy, where the Senate had endorsed the document Sept. 17, completed Rome's ratification of the treaty, making it the fifth of the 12 European Community member countries to ratify the measure, after Ireland, Luxembourg, Greece and France. Belgium is expected to ratify Maastricht in the next few days, and final ratification by Spain is due in December.
The vote in the two countries provided a needed boost to Maastricht following a defeat, a disturbingly narrow victory and a political dispute that raised doubts about the treaty. The agreement first ran into trouble when Danish voters narrowly rejected the treaty in a referendum June 2.
French voters then narrowly approved the treaty. Concerns about unification following the French and Danish votes combined with other worries to touch off turmoil in the British financial markets, forcing London to withdraw the pound sterling from the European exchange rate mechanism.
The problems in Britain and Denmark raise serious difficulties for unification and appear to rule out the possibility of full ratification of Maastricht by the Jan. 1, 1993, target date, diplomats say. They fear it may take another six months, or even a year, to complete the process, and that the treaty may have to be revised.
Denmark is seeking exemptions from important aspects of the Maastricht Treaty, and in London there is serious doubt about whether the British Parliament will ratify the treaty when it comes before the House of Commons Nov. 4.
The prospects for final acceptance of the treaty, signed in the Dutch city of Maastricht Feb. 7, 1992, are not expected to be clarified until a summit conference of the European Community's Council of Ministers to be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, Dec. 11-12.
The overwhelming votes Thursday in favor of the treaty reflected the enthusiasm of the great majority of Italians and Spaniards for the idea of a united Europe, even if it means a loss of some national sovereignty.
''The Treaty of Maastricht, even with all its limitations, represents a considerable step forward toward our ideal of European Union,'' the Italian foreign minister told the lower house at the end of the debate that preceded the vote. ''If we get out of our current pessimism (over the economic crisis), Italy will have only improvements and advantages by adhering to Maastricht.''
Spain has suffered little of the controversy over the Maastricht Treaty that other European nations have experienced. The country's membership in the European Community in 1986 coincided with the start of an economic boom, and the Socialist government of Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez, an active supporter of unification, has given the EC much of the credit.
''Today is a day of celebration for Spain and for Europe,'' Socialist Deputy Miguel Angel Martinez said during the debate. Foreign Minister Javier Solana described Maastricht as ''an ambitious project that is worth working for.''
