Slovakia

parliamentary ratification on 11 May 2005. Sixth country that ratifies the EU Constitution.

It seems that the political will to hold a referendum is missing.
The President Ivan Gasparovic has said that the margin for passing the bill in parliament would be higher than normal, at three-fifths - the same as is needed by Slovak law to change the country’s constitution.

However, the Christian Democrat (KDH) leader, Pavol Hrusovsky, who is a member of the governing coalition, and speaker in the parliament, has argued for a referendum. He believes that the people should be given a vote on a treaty that will drastically reduce the power of individual states.

The Slovak parliament ratified the European Union's constitution in a vote on 11 May, a year after the country joined the bloc.

MPs across the political spectrum voted 116-27 with four abstentions, giving strong support for the EU document and making the new EU member the eighth country to approve it.

The charter won support well beyond the 90 votes it needed to pass in the 150-member chamber.