European Parliament endorses EU constitution

[bin.dare]

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2005/0112/breaking34.htm

The European Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed the European Union's first constitution today but the treaty will only come into force if all 25 member states ratify it, several by referendums.

The EU legislature voted 500 to 137 for a resolution backing the constitutional treaty, with 40 abstentions, part of the lengthy ratification process expected to last up to two years.

Two countries, Lithuania and Hungary, have ratified the treaty by parliamentary vote so far. But its fate will be sealed in referendums in countries including Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Britain, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Poland, where approval is far from certain.

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All the mainsteam parties in 732-member parliament supported the text, which will boost the EU assembly's powers, create a long-term president of the European Council of EU leaders and an EU foreign minister and streamline decision-making.
But the far left rejected it as a global capitalist charter without adequate social protection, while the far right and nationalists attacked it as a blueprint for a European "superstate" that would give too much power to Brussels.

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