Ratification of the Constitutional Treaty in EU-25

Latest update�2 March 2006

Outlook�and results of the�ratification procedures in EU-25 -

Country

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Referendum?

Parliamentary approval

Ratified

Austria

No

The bill to ratify the Constitutional Treaty was adopted by the constitutional affairs committee of the National Council on April 28.� The bill was adopted unanimously except one vote against by the plenary of the National Council on 11 May 2005.�The�Federal Council ratified the constitutional treaty on 25 May by 59 votes against 3. To read more click here.

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Belgium

No.�The Belgian Constitution does not provide for the possibility of organising a referendum

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The Belgian Senate adopted the bill for the approval of the Constitutional treaty on 28 April. 54 members voted in favour, 9 voted against while 1 abstained.
The House of Representatives approved the�bill on Thursday 19 May 2005 with 118 votes in favor, 18 against and� 1 abstention.

On 8 February 2006, the last of the regional parliaments has adopted the bill to approve �the Constitutional Treaty. The formal ratification of the Treaty by Belgium will follow shortly.�

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Cyprus

No.

�The Cyprus House of Representatives ratified the EU Constitutional Treaty on 30 June 2005 with 30 votes in favour, 19 against and 1 abstention.

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Czech Republic

The bill for organising a referendum on the constitutional treaty has been passed by the Chamber of Deputies, but there is not sufficiently support for the bill in the Senate.

�The Czech government has recommended the postponement of the ratification of the constitutional treaty. The Prime Minister, Paroubek, has indicated that the Czech Republic could ratify the constitutional treaty�during 2006 or 2007, but no particular timetable has been agreed for the ratification.

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Denmark

The Danish Prime MInister announced on 17 June 2005 that Denmark has postponed the referendum�that should have taken place on 27 September on the Constitutional Treaty.�

�The parliamentary bill concerning the proposal on the Constitutional Treaty was put forward�by the Government�on 31�March. First reading took place on 19 April�while the second reading�took place on 7 June.
The third reading of the bill� that was foreseen to take place on 7 September has been cancelled as a consequence of Denmark's decision to postpone the referendum.

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Estonia

No.

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The Government proposed on 2 September 2004 that the Riigikogu should ratify the Constitutional Treaty. The Government submitted the Bill on the Ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (645 SE), to the legislative proceeding of the Riigikogu on 10 May 2005. On 8 February 2006 the Riigikogu concluded its first reading of the Bill initiated by the Government. There is no information at present when the 2nd reading of the Ratification Act will take place.

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Finland

No.

The Cabinet Committee on European Union Affairs decided on Wednesday 22 June to submit a report on the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe to the Parliament in the autumn. Initially a government proposal on the Treaty was to be submitted to the Parliament at the beginning of the autumn season. The report will enable a broad-based discussion in the Parliament and its committees.

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France

On 29 May 2005 54,68% of the French� voted against the constitutional treaty, while 45,32% voted in favour. The turnout was 69,34%.

Click here for more info.

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On 1 February the Assembl�e nationale�approved (by 450-34 votes, with 64 abstentions) a revision of the French Constitution to allow a referendum. On 17 February the Senate also approved the revision,�with 263 voting in favour, 27 against and 30 abstentions.
On 28 February Senators and National Assembly deputies, meeting in a rare joint session at Versailles Palace, voted 730-66, with 96 abstentions, to amend the French constitution to clear the way for a referendum on the European Constitutional Treaty this summer. The vote easily cleared the three-fifths majority required. It was only the 13th time that the "Congr�s" of both houses of the French parliament have met since France's Fifth Republic was created in 1958.

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Germany

No. The German constitution does not provide for organising a referendum.

The Bundetag�approved the Constitutional Treaty on 12 May. 569 members voted in favour, 23 against, while 2 abstained.�The Bundesrat adopted the constitutional treaty�on 27 May 2005 with one abstention. In order to complete the ratification procedure, the treaty needs to be signed by the President.

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Greece

No.

The Greek parliament passed the bill to ratify the Constitutional Treaty on 19 April. 268 members of 285 voted in favour. 17 voted against.

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Hungary

No.

The Hungarian Parliament ratified the Constitutional Treaty on 20 December 2004.
323 voted in favour, 12 against, while 8 abstained.

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Ireland

Yes.

A White Paper has been published on the Constitutional Treaty and this has been debated in the Houses. Efforts by the current Presidency (AT) to bring new dynamism and greater clarity to the debate have also�been welcomed. The National Forum on Europe and the Joint Committee on European Affairs are playing key roles in Ireland during this period of�reflection.

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Italy

No.

The Chamber�passed the bill to ratify the Treaty on 25 January 2005. 436 members voted in favour, 28 voted against while 5 abstained.
The Senate adopted the bill on 6 April. 217 voted in favour, while 16 voted against.

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Latvia

No.

On 2 June 2005 the Latvian Parliament approved the Constitutional Treaty. 71 members voted in favour, 5 voted against and 6 abstained.

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Lithuania

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No.

Lithuania ratified in Parliament on 11 November 2004. 84 MPs voted for the ratification of the Treaty, 4 MPs were against and 3 abstained.

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Luxembourg

Yes. The referendum�took �place on 10 July 2005. Luxembourgers voted with 56,52% in favour and 43,48 %�against� the constitutional treaty. For more information click here.

The Luxembourg Chamber of Deputies passed the bill on the Constitutional Treaty unanimously in the first reading.�According to the Constitution,�there has to be a three months period between first and�second reading.��The Chamber of Deputies adopted the Treaty in second reading on 26 october 2005. There were 57 votes�in favour, with 1 vote against.

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Malta

No.

The Maltese House of Representatives approved a Motion for the Ratification of the Constitutional Treaty on 6 July 2005.� The motion was approved unanimously.

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Netherlands

On 1 June 2005 a majority of 61,5% of the Dutch voters rejected the Constitutional Treaty in a consultative referendum, while 38,5% voted in favour. The turnout was 63,3%.

For info on the general result of vote click here

For more details on vote click here

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Poland

The polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski announced on 21 June that�the referendum on the European Constitution would not take place in 2005.�

�The draft resolution of the Sejm on organising a referendum on the Constitutional Treaty was submitted to the Marshall of the Sejm on 15 April 2005.
On Tuesday 5 July the Sejm decided not to discuss�the draft resolution. There were 189 votes for not including the draft in the daily agenda, 180 votes for its inclusion and 2 abstentions

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Portugal

�The government submitted the Constitutional Treaty to the Parliament on 15 June. The Speaker forwarded it to the European Affairs Committee on 21 June.
On 29 June the Committee decided to designate two rapporteurs in order to draw up a report on that subject. According to the internal Rules of Procedures such a report should be written within 30 days and forwarded to the plenary. In this particular case, the European Affairs Committee decided to ask the Speaker for an extended period (6 months, eventually more) to debate the Treaty and the current political context taking into account the Declaration approved at the European Council and following the statements of the Prime Minister in the sense of following the agreement made in Brussels.

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Slovakia

No

The Constitutional Treaty was approved by the National Council of the Slovak Republic on 11 May. 116 members voted in favour, 27 against while 4 abstained.

However, the ratification of the Constitutional Treaty is not finally concluded after the Slovak Constitutional Court on14 July accepted a complaint from�a group of�citizens. The�Court decided that the execution of the parliament`s decision on the ratification of the�should be postponed�and obliged the President not to sign the law of ratification until the Court has decided on the matter.

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Slovenia

No

The Treaty�was�approved �by the�Parliament on 1 February 2005 by 79 votes to 4.�

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Spain

On 20 February 2005�a majority of 76.73% of Spanish�voters backed the Constitutional Treaty in a non-binding referendum. 17.24% voted against, while 6.03% returned a blank voting paper. Voter turnout was 42.32%.

The�Government submitted bill to Parliament on 15 April.�The Congress of Deputies ratified the Constituional Treaty on 28 April with 311 votes in favour and 19 against. The Senate approved on 18 May� the Treaty, with 225� votes in favour ,� 6 votes� against and one abstention.

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Sweden

No.

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Following the declaration of the European Council in June 2005, It's currently unknown when the government plans to submitt a bill for the approval of the Constitutional Treaty.

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United Kingdom

Yes, in theory. But the Government has announced that it has "postponed" the legislation to ratify the Treaty and to lay the groundwork for a referendum. To read a transcript of the Statement to the House of Commons by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr Jack Straw), click on this link.

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The European Union Bill, which incorporates the Treaty provisions into UK law and provides for a referendum on ratification,�was introduced in the House of Commons on 24 May 2005. It must pass through both Houses to be enacted. The text of the Bill and accompanying Explanatory Notes are available via�this link.

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