EU member states' positions on referendum:

No Referendum

Austria - No referendum planned.

Baltics - Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. None are likely to hold referendums.

Cyprus - It will not hold a referendum; parliament will decide.

Finland - The government says no referendum is needed.

Germany - The constitution must be ratified by parliament. A referendum is not on the agenda.

Greece - The constitution will be ratified by parliament and there are no plans to hold a referendum.

Hungary - The government has no plans for a referendum.

Italy - No popular vote is expected on the constitution.

Malta - All international treaties must go through parliament and no referendum will be held.

Slovakia - There is no legislative need for a referendum and parliament will decide.

Slovenia - No requirement for a referendum, but the new constitution needs government and parliamentary approval.

Sweden - The parliament needs a simple majority to ratify the constitution. No referendum will be held.

Referendum

Belgium - Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said in early June he favoured holding a referendum and proposes to launch a consultative referendum within 50 days of the approval of the EU constitution.

Czech Republic - Jan Kohout said early in June that the Czech Republic is likely to hold a referendum. The ballot's outcome is far from certain.

Denmark - Will hold a referendum.

Ireland - Has a strong tradition of polling citizens on European issues and under its own constitution must hold a referendum.

Luxembourg - Plans a referendum.

Portugal - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Manuel Durao Barroso says a referendum will be held at the start of 2005.

Spain - Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero tells parliament his intention is to hold a referendum.

United Kingdom - Britain's Tony Blair may not hold a promised referendum on the constitution until 2006.

Undecided

France - President Chirac's statement welcoming the adoption of the EU constitution failed to say whether he would hold a referendum.

Netherlands - A majority of the Dutch lower house has voted in favour of an "advisory" referendum. The outcome of such a vote, the first in the Netherlands, would be a guide to parliament and the government in reaching a decision, but not binding.

Poland - Poland has yet to formally decide whether to hold a popular vote. Both the ruling minority left and the opposition want a referendum and differ only on its timing.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.