EU Constitution - Ratification

Parliamentary approval

Prime Minister Juhan Parts said as the Estonians had a referendum on the membership in the European Union and if the EU Constitution does not change the essence of the European Union, there is no point in having a new poll.

The Government chose on 2 September 2004 not to support the idea of a referendum. The final decision is for Parliament to take. Currently (February 2006) the Parliament debates about the ratification.

All the parties, except the centre party, have already expressed their wish to see the European Constitution ratified by Parliament only.

Nevertheless, the Estonian Constitution allows Parliament to conduct a binding referendum. If the parliamentary referendum is lost, the president has to call early parliamentary elections.

Estonia

: area ~ 45.000 sq km

Previous referenda on European issues

The constitutional amendments required for accession were submitted to a referendum. It was held on 14 September 2003 and resulted in a ‘yes’ vote of 66.8%, with a turnout of 64%.