Ratification of the EU constitution: six down, 19 to go
The European Union's landmark constitutional treaty, which was approved Thursday by the lower house of the German parliament, has been fully ratified in six of the EU countries and is well under way in four others.
The treaty calls for ratification either by referendum or parliamentary votes by the end of October 2006.
Countries that have already ratified the constitutional treaty
- Lithuania: November 11, 2004
- Hungary: December 20, 2004
- Slovenia: February 1, 2005
- Italy: April 6, 2005
- Greece: April 19, 2005
- Slovakia: May 11, 2005
Countries where the ratification process is under way
- Spain: Members of Parliament voted massively in favour of ratification on April 28, following a consultative referendum in which 76.73 percent of voters backed the constitution. The charter has to go before the Senate within two months.
- Belgium: The Senate approved the text on April 28, but it must still go before the lower house, then the regional and linguistic community parliaments.
- Austria: The lower house of the Austrian parliament almost unanimously backed the constitution on May 11. It must now be voted on in the upper chamber or Nationalrat.
- Germany: Germany's lower house, or Bundestag, approved the text with a huge majority on May 12. The upper house, our Bundesrat representing the states, votes on May 27.
Countries where ratification is scheduled for 2005 and 2006
by parliamentary vote
- Cyprus: Ratification expected at the end of May.
- Latvia: The parliament has been examining the text since December 2004 but a vote has been put off by translation mistakes. The government issued on May 10 a new version for ratification.
- Estonia: The government on May 5 gave the parliament the constitution to vote on for ratification. The vote is expected by summer.
- Sweden: A final vote is expected in December, although 58 percent of Swedes want a referendum, according to a poll released by a movement opposed to the constitution.
- Finland: Ratification is expected at the end of this year or at the beginning of 2006.
- Malta: A vote is expected in July.
by referendum
- France: May 29
- The Netherlands: June 1
- Luxembourg: July 10
- Poland: President Aleksander Kwasniewski and the ruling left want to hold a referendum at the same time as presidential elections on September 25. The right wants to postpone a vote until 2006.
- Denmark: September 27
- Portugal: New Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates has proposed holding a referendum at the same time as municipal elections in October.
- Ireland: No date has been set, but a referendum is likely in early 2006.
- Britain: A date has not been scheduled for a referendum, but one is likely in spring 2006. However, Prime Minister Tony Blair has hinted that Britain might not hold a referendum if France rejects it.
The Czech Republic is the only EU country that has not decided how or when the constitution will be up for ratification. Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek, who was named at the end of April, has called for the constitution to be ratified by referendum.
Source: EUbusiness
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