Ratification of the EU Constitution - state of play in the member states[fr][de] 

The European Council agreed on the EU's first-ever Constitutional Treaty on 18 June 2004 (see also   EurActiv 21 June 2004). The Constitutional Treaty was signed on 29 October 2004, under the Dutch EU Presidency.

In principle, the member states have two years to ratify the Treaty with the ratification process varying from member state to member state depending upon whether direct democracy (via a popular referendum) or parliamentary democracy is favoured.

While most countries announced that the ratification of the treaty would come through a parliamentary process, a number of countries indicated that they would hold a referendum on the constitution. Those countries were the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the UK.

Spanish voters approved the treaty in a consultative referendum on 20 February. The decision was put to a Parliamentary vote and passed by Parliament on 19 May. In a referendum held on 29 May, French voters rejected the terms of the treaty with a 'no' vote of 55.6%. Dutch voters followed suit in a consultative vote on 1 June, with 61.8% of the turnout voting against the treaty. 

Two weeks after the failed referenda on the EU Constitution in France and the Netherlands, the EU summit decided that the referenda would be put on hold in countries that had chosen to put the ratification of the treaty to a public vote. The Constitution can take effect only if all 25 member states ratify it either in a parliamentary vote or by referendum.

For more information, see our LinksDossier Constitutional Treaty: the 'reflection period'.