Current status concerning EU Constitution:
Finland's parliament ratified the Constitution (05 December 2006) by an overwhelming majority with 125 votings in favour and only 39 against. The FInnish president is expected to sign off the procedure the following week.
Finland is the 16th member state to largely complete ratification of the document and the seventh country - along with Estonia, Latvia, Malta, Luxembourg, Belgium and Cyprus - whose votes come after the "no" referendum of France and The Netherlands last year.
UPDATES
02 June 2006: According to a TNS Gallup Oy poll published in Finland, only 22 % of Finns agree that their parliament should ratify the EU Constitution, while 48 % are opposed.
23 May 2006: According to a media poll by Sunnuntaisuomalainen 57% want a referendum, while another 14% prefer no ratification at all. This gives a total of 71% who would not like the Finnish parliament to carry on with the ratification of the Constitution. Only 26% agree to ratification.
12 May 2006: Finland's parliament voted (12 May 2006) in favour of starting the process to ratify the EU Constitution. Of 199 members of parliament, 104 voted in favour, 11 abstained, 24 voted against and 60 were absent. Although this vote clears the way for formal ratification, the cabinet must now decide whether to proceed with ratification or not.
5 May 2006: According to the Eurobarometer results:
- 36% think their country's EU membership is "a good thing".
- 20% chose "a common constitution" when asked to choose two from six options concerning what "would be most helpful for the Future of Europe"
- 24% chose "a common constitution" when asked to choose two from six options concerning what "would strengthen your feelings about being a European citizen."
Snippets
Finnish President Tarja Halonen has questioned the wisdom of the ratification process. Ms Halonen has asked: "This is simply a question of time. Ratification as such has been a goal and the ratification should take place, but is this the treaty, which will ultimately be ratified?"