Britain said Tuesday that it was making no fresh additions to its "red lines" on the proposed EU constitution, after being accused by Germany and France of engaging in "salami tactics" at ongoing talks in Brussels.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair confirmed that Britain wanted to see a "further technical amendment" to a section of the Charter of Fundamental Rights that is being folded into the constitutional treaty.
"We haven't increased the number of our red lines," he added, referring to Britain's insistence that every EU member state retain the right to veto EU initiatives on taxation, foreign policy, defence policy and social security.
"We are not hardening up our negotiating position - but this is a real negotiation and therefore we want to see our position clearly reflected." European Union foreign ministers Monday kicked off a month of intensive negotiations on the constitution, with the goal of getting it finalised at the next summit of EU leaders in June.
But according to British press reports Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw clashed with his French and Germany counterparts over the fine print in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer was quoted as saying that Britain, having already secured its red lines, should not engage in "salami tactics" - squeezing further small concessions from its EU partners slice by slice.