(VIENNA) - Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer said Thursday that his ruling coalition wants a referendum if the European Union's Lisbon Treaty is modified in any way.

"We think any future changes to the treaty which affect Austrian interests must be decided in Austria by a referendum," Gusenbauer wrote in an open letter to the tabloid daily Kronen Zeitung.

"A lot of people are under the impression that the EU is not concerned with their real problems but that it is interested above all in looking after itself.

Gusenbauer's Social Democrats, partners in the ruling coalition with the conservative Austrian People's Party, are driving the policy stance.

The newspaper has for many years led an anti-Europe campaign and has openly called for a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

The letter, published on the newspaper's website, was also signed by the new president of the Social Democrats, Werner Faymann.

Austria's parliament has already ratified the treaty, designed to streamline EU decision-making following enlargement of the bloc to 27 members. But the document, which must be approved by all member states, was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum earlier this month.

The Social Democrats' European deputy, Hannes Swoboda, said earlier Thursday that his party would have no problem if the treaty went ahead in its current form, despite the Irish 'No' vote, but also said that any modification would have to be put to a referendum in Austria, he told the Austrian news agency APA.

Swoboda pointed to increasing scepticism among Austrians with regard to the EU.

"We've seen that it's now completely impossible to push through a new treaty," he said.

A massive information campaign would be needed to inform the public from the very beginning what a new treaty really meant and the question would have to be asked whether increased powers for the EU parliament, national parliaments and common foreign and security policies were desirable, the politician said.

Among Austrian political parties, only the far-right FPOe and BZOe have so far been in favour of a referendum.

In April, a pro-referendum petition called "Let's Save Austria" collected more than 100,000 signatures.

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