Finland ready to ratify EU constitution

The Finnish parliament's foreign affairs committee gave the green light on Friday for the country to ratify the European Union Constitution, perhaps even before taking over the EU presidency in July.

The committee called on Finland's 200-member parliament to vote on the proposed constitutional treaty before July 1, parliamentary sources said.

A large majority of Finnish lawmakers back the treaty, as does public opinion in the country. The government is against holding a referendum, though a recent survey showed that 57 percent of Finns would like to be consulted.

Finland has said it wants to use its presidency to restart discussions on the future of the constitution -- in suspension since June 2005, after French and Dutch voters rejected it by referendum -- but the EU is not expecting anything concrete until after the 2007 French presidential election.