President Tarja Halonen has criticised what she sees as the turning of the issue of ratification of the proposed European Union constitution into a question of Finnish domestic politics.
Parliament will soon get a proposal for the ratification of the treaty from the government, even though Halonen still disagrees on the timetable. The President and Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) have agreed that the proposal will be submitted to Parliament in June, which is before the beginning of Finland's turn at the EU Presidency, in the second half of this year.
The President emphasises that Parliament, which is pushing for ratification, is now taking responsibility for the schedule. At the same time it is making decisions on behalf of the Parliament, which is to be elected after the general elections in March.
In Halonen's view, it would have been wise to first listen to the views of Austria, the present holder of the EU Presidency, on how the draft constitution should be dealt with.
