Estonian lawmakers Tuesday ratified the European Union's draft
constitution, a document whose approval has largely stalled
elsewhere on the continent after French and Dutch voters rejected
it.
The charter, which aims to strengthen Europe's influence on the
world stage by creating the post of an EU foreign minister, easily
won approval from lawmakers in Estonia, one of the 10 countries
that joined the bloc in 2004.
Estonia is the 15th of the 25 EU members to approve the
document, which is unlikely to come into force anytime soon.
Many EU members put ratification plans on hold after French and
Dutch voters rejected the draft last year, a setback that reflected
unease over the bloc's course, in particular the fast pace of EU
expansion and efforts to more closely integrate the continent's
economy and foreign policy.
The charter would streamline decision making in the 25-nation
bloc. It would also affect the way Europe acts on international
matters by creating the positions of an EU president and foreign
minister.
Estonia's two Baltic neighbors and fellow former Soviet
republics, Latvia and Lithuania, have also ratified the draft.
Estonian lawmakers voted 73-1 to approve the document, a result
that was widely expected. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip called
Estonia's ratification a "significant step" and said the vote
reflected his country's "desire to participate in the process of
shaping" EU's future.
The EU's executive office, the European Commission, plans to
propose reconsideration of the draft in 2007.
EU may delay entry decision
The European Union may postpone its decision by several months
on whether Bulgaria and Romania join the bloc in 2007 or 2008 to
press the two states to enact more reforms, an EU source said
Tuesday.
The European Commission, the EU's executive, will publish
reports on May 16 assessing how close the two Balkan countries are
to being ready to join. The reports are expected to recommend
whether their entry should be delayed by a year.
"One option under consideration is to give either Bulgaria or
Romania, or both, some more time to prepare themselves better
before a recommendation is made," said a Commission official, who
asked not to be identified.
The Commission's enlargement spokeswoman, Krisztina Nagy,
declined to speculate on what the executive would recommend. "No
decision has been made. The jury is still out," she said.
(China Daily May 10, 2006)
