Opening the debate the committee's head Vladimir Seks of the ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said the parliament had unanimously decided on initiating the procedure to amend the Constitution and that two motions had been put forward to this effect by the government and by the Opposition in October 2009.

The two motions have been treated equally, an inter-party task force has been set up to formulate a joint proposal for the constitution amendment. The task force could not agree only on models for voting of Croatian citizens with no permanent residence in Croatia and therefore it has been agreed to begin with changing the Constitution in a smaller scope than originally planned, according to Seks.

The changes should enable Croatia to apply the European arrest warrant, a prerequisite for the opening of the policy chapter no. 23 on Judiciary and Fundamental Rights within Croatia's EU membership talks.

All national minorities living in Croatia would be mentioned in the preamble, according to the committee's proposal.

According to Seks, the constitutional law on ethnic minorities' rights would also be changed and minorities making up less than 1.5 percent in Croatia's total population would be granted additional voting rights.

The Serb minority will elect its deputies in accordance with a special model, the HDZ MP said.

The constitutional changes also include introducing the EU law as a law source, ensuring the election of judicial officials independently of politics and enabling EU citizens to vote in local elections in Croatia,

The amended constitution would incorporate a new chapter regulating the legal foundation for Croatia's EU membership.

There is also the proposal that the outcome of a referendum on Croatia's accession to the EU would be decided by a majority of voters participating in the referendum.

Addressing the parliament, Justice Minister Ivan Simonovic said that the government on Tuesday accepted the motion put forward by the Constitution Committee, sending a signal about urgency in accomplishment of the Constitution amendment. The minister said that this did not mean that the door would be closed for the continuation of talks in order to harmonise views on all matters.

Although lawmakers were agreed during the debate that it was necessary to continue talks on the Constitution amendment, the Opposition persisted in tackling the voting of the diaspora within the motion to change the Constitution.

The Opposition asks for enabling Croatians with no permanent residence in Croatia to vote only in Croatia's embassies and consular facilities. Currently they can vote also at the polling stations set up at some other places outside Croatia.

Deputies from the ruling coalition insist that this issue should be dealt with by election legislation law rather than by the Constitution.

Zoran Milanovic of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) said that the talks should resume as there were several months for the continuation of the talks.

He holds the proposal to enable the diaspora to vote only in embassies and consulates to be a sensible compromise.

Milanovic said that this was also in the interest of Croatian citizens living in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

He recalled that this February the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Croatian government and political parties to reconsider their policy towards Croats in Bosnia-Herzegovina and find a fair and viable solution.

Admitting that the voting of the diaspora was the only bone of contention, Seks underlined that the ruling coalition and the Opposition had managed to harmonise views on 90 percent of proposed changes in the Constitution.

He refuted Milanovic's accusations that the HDZ and the government should be blamed for failure in reaching full agreement.

Andrija Hebrang of the HDZ said that all who would vote for the motion of the Constitution Committee would actually vote for Croatia's entry into the EU and for its prosperity.

Vesna Pusic of the Croatian People's Party (HNS) urged the ruling majority not to resort to pressure and blackmailing and not to portray the Opposition as non-European or they would not secure two thirds of votes required for the changing of the Constitution.

She said that the motion on the parliament's agenda was only Vladimir Seks' selection of items to be changed within the Constitution amendment.

Milorad Pupovac of the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS) said that the dilemma "Europe or the Constitution" should be removed.

The Constitution should be amended for our own sake and for the sake of strengthening our position in the EU, Pupovac said.

He added that the election system should be regulated in the way which would put an end to manipulations with the diaspora and national minorities.

Furio Radin of the club of national minorities' MPs called on the ruling HDZ and on the strongest opposition SDP to try agree on the voting of the diaspora as discussions on the enlargement or the reduction of polling stations outside Croatia "resemble election engineering"