Parliamentary approval

On 1 February 2005, the national Assembly approved the Constitution (79 votes in favour, 4 against and 7 abstentions).

Slovenia is the third Member State to have ratified the Constitution.

The last elections did not alter the attitude of the Government towards a parliamentary ratification of the Constitution. Only the nationalist Party requested a referendum. The six other parties rejected this idea. With a view to accession to the Union, the 2003 law amending the Constitution added an Article 3.a on a treaty transferring sovereign rights to an international organisation. This article provides that Parliament may set a date for a binding referendum to approve this treaty.

In 2003, the Slovenians have been called five times to give their opinion in referendums. The coalition government has started to campaign against 'the inflation' of referendums supported by arecent opinion poll showing that some 85% of the Slovenians think this could be perhaps too much.

Read more facts on the ratification.