Constitution (2004)

• The Czech government has questioned the date for the ratification of the Reform Treaty - set for 2009. "We do not want to improvise during our presidency," said Alexander Vondra, the Czech Secretary for EU affairs, referring to the country's six-month term in the first half of 2009. Vondra suggested that putting the Constitution in force within a 12-month period - rather than within the 18-24 months that is normally the case - would be a "record tempo" and hard to achieve. Prague had expressed concerns about the ambitious timetable before, but other EU member states argued that the new institutional rules should be introduced just ahead of the EU assembly's 2009 elections. EUobserver.com
  

• The Danish government has pushed forward a decision on whether or not to hold a referendum, saying it will start examining the issue in October. EUobserver.com
• If the legal experts find that there is "delegation of powers" from Copenhagen to Brussels in the reform treaty, only a majority of five-sixths in the national assembly - the so-called Folketinget - can agree to the treaty without holding a referendum.
• The EU spokesman for the Danish People's Party said: "When you wish to move so much power out of the member states then it is a condition that we can assure that the people are also willing to move all this power out of the countries. And that can only be secured with a referendum," EUobserver.com

• On 14.09.2007 Le Figaro reported that French Europe Minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet has suggested deleting the article in the French Constitution which obliges the country to hold a referendum on any future enlargement of the EU. He said the obligation for a referendum could “put France in difficulty regarding countries which have an indisputable and undisputed vocation to join the EU, like Macedonia or the Balkans.” The French Ministry for Foreign Affairs said “The idea is not to get rid of the referendum but to allow the head of State to choose between that and ratification by parliamentary vote.”

Parliamentary ratification

• "Because the new EU treaty is a regular reform treaty, the normal approval procedure will be followed. The government does not feel that a referendum is an appropriate instrument.
  The government sees the new treaty as similar to those of Maastricht, Amsterdam and Nice, and like those earlier treaties, it can be approved via the normal procedure. The reform treaty will thus be debated and voted on by parliament." (Normal procedure for new EU treaty, 21.09.2007 http://www.government.nl)
  The likelihood of the Netherlands holding a referendum on the Reform Treaty decreased already on 13.09.2007 after the Dutch government was told by the Council of State that a poll is not necessary since there is no legal need for a referendum since the new treaty does not include "constitutional" elements.EUobserver.com
• The country's second largest political faction, the Labour party, had come out in favour of ratifying the Reform Treaty by referendum.

• On 03.09.07 Le Monde reported that if Poland organised the anticipated legislative elections on the envisaged date of 21 October, it could bring risks for the conclusion of the new European treaty at the summit on 18 and 19 October in Lisbon. The institutional mess could, fear certain Brussels officials, enflame the Polish debate and cause the Kaczynski brothers to harden their tone. Careful to avoid any blunders, Brussels diplomats are therefore now envisaging a simple political agreement in October.

• On 24.09.2007 UK prime minister Gordon Brown said that holding a referendum on the new EU treaty is not needed. "If we needed a referendum we would have one. But I think most people recognise that there is not a fundamental change taking place as a result of this amended treaty", Mr Brown told BBC television.
  After London secured opt-outs in key areas such as justice and home affairs and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the PM judged the treaty sufficiently different from the original constitution that it could be ratified by parliament.
• During summer 2007 UK prime minister Gordon Brown was being pushed further into a corner over the EU's new treaty, as three major parties – conservatives, labour and liberal democrats – were set to kick off a united campaign dubbed "I want a referendum". EUobserver.com
• On 14.09.07 Le Figaro noted an ICM poll showing that 80% of Labour voters and 80% of all British people want a referendum.