French parliament votes on EU Constitution referendum

More than 900 MPs were summoned to Versailles Palace for a landmark vote to clear the way for a referendum on whether France adopts the EU constitution.

The special joint session of members of the National Assembly and the Senate - the two houses of government – was to take up a revision of the French constitution needed before France can adopt the EU charter.

The Constitutional Council has ruled that the French and EU constitutions cannot legally coexist under current law, necessitating an amendment to make way for adoption of the EU document.

The revision, which is widely expected, would mark only the 13th constitutional amendment since the Fifth Republic was created in 1958. Many of the other changes have also been linked to the European Union.

President Jacques Chirac, who strongly backs the EU treaty, convened the two houses for the vote, and a three-fifths majority is required. He is likely to set a date in May or June for the referendum.

The two chambers have separately adopted the changes with large margins; opposition has been primarily on the political fringes – such as the Communist Party and the far-right National Front party – and some holdouts among Socialists and in Chirac’s centre-right party.

For the EU constitution to take effect, all 25 member states must approve it. Three countries have already passed it in parliament, and Spain approved the charter in a referendum last week.

The document is designed to streamline EU decision-making, making the 25 nation bloc more efficient and giving it global clout on a par with its economic might.

Polls indicate the French would vote in favour, but momentum has been rising in the no camp.