A PARALYSED Tory Euro-MP is being flown to Strasbourg to cast his

crucial vote today in favour of the enlargement of the European Union.

Mr Richard Simmonds, Euro-MP for East Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,

can walk only with the aid of sticks after suffering a stroke.

Such is the importance of approving the accession of Austria, Norway,

Sweden, and Finland, that he will be delivered by air ambulance to the

European Parliament to ensure a full Tory turn-out.

Mr Simmonds is not standing for re-election next month because of his

illness but he is still an MEP until the new Parliament convenes in

September. He will be assisted into the chamber and helped to cast his

electronic vote by push-button.

The three-line whip on the Tories shows how seriously the vote is

being taken -- not just because of the tight timetable for ushering in

the new countries to swell the European Union to 16 members by the start

of next year -- but also because the Parliament wants to flex its

European Parliament muscles as a body with new powers under the

Maastricht Treaty.

Last night, a last-minute flurry was under way to ensure the necessary

simple majority of 259 votes out of a possible 517 required to keep the

accession programme on track.

Failure to deliver parliamentary approval would embarrass existing

member states and the four applicant countries, whose Governments must

still win referendum votes in their countries.

It would also add to the Euro-embarrassment of Prime Minister John

Major, battling against another backbench backlash against Britain's EU

role.

The 45 British Labour Euro-MPs and the 31 British Tories -- the 32nd,

Devon's Lord O'Hagan, has already resigned his seat because of domestic

problems -- are certain to vote in favour. Lord O'Hagan, it is

understood, was required to quit urgently so that party managers could

preserve their claim to a 100% vote in favour.

Mr John Smith, the Labour leader, has written to all Labour Euro-MPs

-- twice -- urging them to vote in favour. Last night, only one was

showing signs of prevaricating, but colleagues predicted full support

from the group.

With the EP's biggest group, the 197-strong socialists, predicting

more than 130 votes in favour and the centre-right EPP, including

British Tories, intending to follow suit, the signs are that the Yes

vote should succeed comfortably once other smaller groups are included.

Last night, Chancellor Kohl of Germany sent a message of support for

Parliament's fight for more powers as a sop to Euro-MPs who still want

more concessions before they deliver the right result. He proposed

giving the EP a seat with ministers at the top table when plans for the

1996 renegotiation of Maastricht are carried out in the coming months.

Some Euro-MPs are still unhappy with the concessions granted to

Britain over voting rights in Europe and others want a guarantee that

Euro-MPs will be fully involved in preparing for the 1996 negotiations

on Europe's future.

Until Mr Kohl intervened, Euro-MPs had only a vague promise from Mr

Theodorus Pangalos, the Greek European minister, who said on behalf of

the Greek presidency that the parliament's views would be taken fully

into account.

The chancellor told the Liberals: ''I can assure you that at the

inter-governmental conference (IGC) in 1996, I will make sure that a

working group will be set up and it will be composed of government

representatives as well as Euro-MPs, who must also have a role. The

conclusions of this committee should serve as a basis for the IGC.''

This means that the so-called wise men's committee, set up recently to

approve the agenda for the 1996 Maastricht review, will now include

members of the EP. However, some Euro-MPs noted that Mr Kohl might not

be in a position to make sure of a parliamentary presence.

If the chancellor does have his way, the committee's ambitions for

deepening community union in 1996 and taking Maastricht even farther

down the federalist road will cause tantrums among British Conservative

Euro-sceptics. They are already demanding the unstitching of the treaty

and even complete British withdrawal from the EU.

The inevitable row in 1996 raises the prospect of Britain becoming

more isolated from the process of European union and seeking more

opt-outs from key passages of a revised treaty -- assuming the

Conservatives are still in power at the end of 1996.

Elsewhere, the enlargement vote has prompted heroic efforts to deliver

the right result: Italian priest Gianni Baget Bozo, who has not been

seen in Strasbourg allegedly for three years, turned up yesterday and

had trouble finding his rarely-occupied seat, next to Labour's Richard

Balfe.