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Ratification

The EU ratifies Kyoto (Photo: Spanish Presidency)

Ratification is the official confirmation of an already agreed text.
Treaties have to be ratified by the Member States in accordance with the contents of their respective constitutions.

Even if a treaty has been signed on behalf of a state or a number of states, it is not legally binding until all the states that have signed declare formally that they have ratified it. Treaties are ratified either by a majority vote of the national parliament or by referenda.

The future

100 members of the Convention on the Future of Europe proposed that the adoption of the proposal for an EU Constitution should be followed by referenda in each Member State before it can be ratified.

If, after 2 years, a few Member States still haven't ratified it, the European Council has to deal with the issue (art. IV-443.4). The same formulation is attached to the EU Constitution as political declaration 30 because the article will not enter into force until the EU Constitution is ratified.

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