Brussels, 08/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Bundestag, the lower house of Germany parliament gave its approval on Tuesday 8 September (446 voters for, 46 against, with 2 abstentions) for the legislative amendments called for by the German constitutional court before Germany is able to complete the ratification process for the Lisbon treaty. In practical terms, parliamentarians in Berlin adopted a nominal appeal for an “accompaniment law” (Begleitgesetz), which aims to give the German parliament the right of scrutiny on the country's European policy. Once the other chamber, the Bundesrat, approves the text (the vote will take place on 18 September), the German president, Horst Köhler, will finally be able to sign the ratification instrument for the Lisbon treaty. The Czech and Polish ratifications will still be required (the two presidents are still due to sign the laws of ratification that have already been approved by the two countries' parliaments), as well as Irish ratification, following the new referendum on 2 October. On Tuesday, the Spanish minister for foreign affairs, Miguel Angel Moratinos, underlined the importance of the Irish vote for the EU's future. Moratinos affirmed during a visit to Vienna that his country, which takes over the presidency of the EU in the second half of 2010 (and which will therefore have to deal with another institutional crisis if there is another Irish “no” vote) “does not have a plan B”. (H.B./trans/rh)