Ratification of the Constitutional Treaty

Implementation of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe is one of the key strategic objectives outlined in the Commission's document Strategic objectives 2005-2009, COM (2005) 12 final published 26.1.2005. The process is under way and tracking progress will no doubt be an important issue for information providers. On 12th January 2005 the European Parliament gave its approval to the text by voting almost four to one in favour. The minutes of the sitting record the vote and can be found by following the Plenary sessions link from the European Parliament's home page at http://www.europarl.eu.int.

The Hungarian and Lithuanian parliaments have already ratified the Treaty at the end of 2004, while the first referendum to take place is to be held in Spain in February 2005. This and future developments can be followed on the Constitution website at http://europa.eu.int/constitution/futurum/ratification_en.htm. In the UK, the European Union Bill (HC Bill 45 2004-05) was published on 26th January 2005, making public the proposed question which will be put in the referendum expected to take place around March 2006. For more background from a UK perspective and for information about the government's position as well as the process of ratification, visit the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's site 'Britain and the EU' which can be picked up at http://www.fco.gov.uk. You can find the online text of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's basic introduction Guide to the European Union as well as the texts relating to the Treaty. As well as the Treaty these texts include a series of commentaries on the different sections of the Treaty and the Regulatory Impact Assessment document, together with a link to the text of the bill and its explanatory notes located at http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmbills/045/2005045.htm.

The regular Eurobarometer survey no.62 conducted during the weeks preceding signature of the Treaty by the Heads of State or Government in October 2004 shows quite a high level of awareness amongst the population of the member states. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/index_en.htm for full details. However the first results of Special Eurobarometer no.214, polled during November 2004, show a worrying lack of knowledge in a large proportion of the citizens of the EU. Though the full report is not due to be published until February 2005, the first results can be viewed at http://europa.eu.int/comm/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs214_en_first.pdf.