Belgium: EU Constitution will not be put to referendum

Following a political U-turn by a coalition partner, Belgian
Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt has been unable to
secure a parliamentary majority in favour of a referendum on
the Constitution.

Guy Verhofstadt’s liberal VLD party can no longer count on the
parliamentary support of its social-liberal coalition partner
Spirit for holding a referendum on the EU Constitution.
Spirit’s Chairman Geert Lambert said his
party feared that the far right Vlaams Belang party
would steer the debate towards Turkish entry into the European
Union, Belgian media have reported.

Ratification by all EU members is a must for the EU
Constitution to enter into force. Two countries, Lithuania and
Hungary, have already ratified the Constitution through a
parliamentary vote. Ten countries, including France and the UK,
will hold referenda. 

The first country to ask their people about the new treaty is
Spain where a referendum will be held on 20 February.

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Croatia expects to close EU talks in 2007

Croatia aims to conclude accession talks in 2007, and expects talks to head directly towards EU membership. In February, the Commission will present the framework for the talks, which are scheduled to start on 17 March.