Franse parlementariërs bijeen om te spreken over ratificatie EU-verdrag (en)
French parliamentarians will this afternoon (4 February) gather for a special session in the Versailles palace where they are expected to take a significant step towards ratifying the EU treaty.
French daily Le Monde reports that 577 deputies and 330 senators will gather at 4pm in the famous palace to adopt a law modifying the French constitution in favour of the EU's Lisbon Treaty.
The constitutional amendment is expected to be passed without problem - a constitutional amendment needs a 60 percent majority - as the governing centre-right UMP party of president Nicolas Sarkozy is set to largely vote in favour while the socialists have said they will abstain.
The move will bring to a close a turbulent phase in EU-French relations that kicked off when France shocked Europe by voting against the draft EU constitution almost three years ago.
Since becoming president in June last year, Mr Sarkozy has on several occasions said he will bring France back to the heart of Europe, with an early ratification of the Lisbon Treaty seen as key to this.
The next step after Monday's vote will be parliamentary ratification on Wednesday and Thursday (7 February).
The quick path through parliament contrasts strongly to events in 2005 when the Versailles constitutional amendment vote in February three years ago were followed by a highly emotional debate on the constitution.
Three months later, it was eventually rejected by 55 percent of the electorate. This time around, Mr Sarkozy has flatly refused to have a public vote, saying that if France takes the referendum path, other countries, such as the UK, will have to follow suit, making it unlikely that the Lisbon treaty will be ratified by all 27 member states - which is required for it to come into force.
Slovakia moots referendum
But if the parliamentary vote in France is expected to go smoothly, events in Slovakia have taken a more farcical turn.
Last week, the country saw a series of delays to the vote on ratifying the EU treaty because of a dispute between the governing and opposition parties over a separate law, with the vote now scheduled for Thursday.
But the country's ruling coalition upped the stakes over the weekend by talking about holding a referendum if opposition parties keep blocking the vote due to their dislike of the government's draft media bill, seen as too restrictive.
Vladimir Meciar, former prime minister and leader of the Movement for Democratic Slovakia party (HZDS-LS), which belongs to a three-party ruling coalition, signalled during a TV debate that if the opposition continued in its resistance, he would officially file a bid for a referendum on the treaty.
While the centre-left SMER party and Slovak national party - both governing parties - reacted cautiously, saying a referendum should be the last resort, opposition delegates strongly disapproved.
They argued there is no need for a popular vote as there is enough support for the Lisbon treaty in Slovakia's parliament.
But they insisted they would maintain their protest against the controversial media bill until the government withdraws it or starts negotiating its content.
Slovakia is one of the 18 countries that ratified the original European Constitution. The constitution was shelved after being rejected by French and Dutch voters, though most of its institutional innovations are included in the current Lisbon treaty.