Parliamentary approval + referendum (?)

Latest News: The bill to hold a referendum has not been passed over to the Parliament. The UK was the first country to interrupt the ratification process.

In 2003 Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed repeatedly his unwillingness to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution. But he was facing great pressure of pro-referendum campaigns and the oppositional parties and the press. On April 20, 2004 he announced in the parliament to hold a referendum. A date is not fixed yet but the referendum is supposed to take place after a debate and decision in parliament. The referendum will be binding.

It will be held after the bill to ratify the European Constitution has passed through Parliament.

The bill has been introduced in the House of Commons on 25 January 2005. It establishes the details of the referendum and makes provision for the Treaty to be given effect in UK law if the referendum approves it. The presentation of the bill is known as the first reading and takes place without debate. The second reading and the debate took place on 9 February 2005. The bill will now be debated in details at Committee Stage. The question (also translated in Welsh) to be asked in the referendum is “Should the United Kingdom approve the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union?”

Even if no date has been set, holding it in early 2006 is usually mentioned.

Polls show that voters in Britain are very strongly opposed to the EU Constitution.

So far, the bill is put on ice and the ratification process in Britain stopped.

Read more facts on the ratification.