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| Finland ratifies EU constitution | Finland ratifies EU constitution |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Finland has become the latest country to ratify the European constitution, four weeks before the end of its six-month stint as EU president. | Finland has become the latest country to ratify the European constitution, four weeks before the end of its six-month stint as EU president. |
| Finland hands over the presidency to Germany, which has pledged to seek a solution to the constitution problem. | Finland hands over the presidency to Germany, which has pledged to seek a solution to the constitution problem. |
| Sixteen of the 25 EU states have now largely completed ratification. | Sixteen of the 25 EU states have now largely completed ratification. |
| But French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty in referendums in 2005, and UK Home Secretary John Reid described it on Monday as a "dead parrot". | |
| Finland's parliament voted by 125 to 39 in favour of ratification, with four abstentions. | |
| The government has now to take a decision proposing ratification to the Finnish president. | |
| 2009 deadline | |
| The aim is to finish the procedure by Thursday 14 December, when EU leaders gather in Brussels for an end-of-year summit. | |
| The Finnish presidency held discussions with EU states during the autumn, and will present an assessment of the state of play to the summit. | |
| EU leaders are still hoping for agreement on measures to streamline EU institutions by 2009, when a new European Commission will be appointed and elections will be held to the European Parliament. | |
| The European Commission also wants the new "institutional settlement" to be in place before Croatia joins the EU, possibly by the end of the decade. | |
| If Germany comes up with a blueprint for a way forward, the hope is that treaty changes can be ratified - with or without referendums - in 2008. | |
| Most countries that have ratified the constitution are still hoping it can be resuscitated in something like its original form. | |
| Others, such as the UK, the Netherlands and Poland would prefer it not to reappear in any form. |