Friday

29th Mar 2024

Hungarian Parliament ratifies Constitution

The Hungarian Parliament yesterday (20 December) ratified the European Constitution by 304 votes to nine. There were eight abstentions and 64 members of the parliament were absent at the time of the vote, according to the BBC.

However, the two-thirds majority needed to ratify the Constitution was easily achieved and Budapest becomes the second EU state after Lithuania to ratify the text.

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  • The Hungarian Parliament cleared the Constitution by a large majority (Photo: European Commission)

The Constitution needs to be ratified by all 25 member states to come into force. If all countries pass the Constitution, it will come into force on 1 November, 2006. Latvia is expected to be next to ratify the Treaty in January.

At least nine countries are planning to hold a referendum on the issue, beginning with Spain on 20 February.

Some referendums are expected to result in a comfortable win for the "yes" camp. Others - such as in the UK and France - are expected to be much closer. Public opinion in the UK has been consistently hostile to the Constitution.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

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