07.04.2005 By Honor Mahony

Italy became the first major EU country to ratify the European
Constitution following a parliamentary vote on Wednesday.

A vote by the upper house saw 217 vote in favour and 16 against the new
EU charter - the lower house had voted in favour in January.

The European Commission welcomed the news saying it was "pleased about
this ratification" and noted that Italy is the first of the six founding
members of the EU to ratify.

This brings the number of countries that have ratified the document to
four. Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia also gave the green light to the
EU charter via their parliaments while Spanish citizens voted on it in a
referendum in February - but the parliament is also expected to
rubberstamp it.

http://www.euobserver.com/?sid=9&aid=18805