Ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon

The ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon was officially completed by all member states of the European Union on 13 November 2009 when the Czech Republic deposited its instrument of ratification with the Italian government. The Lisbon Treaty came into force on the first day of the month following the deposition of the last instrument of ratification with the government of Italy, which was 1 December 2009.

Most states ratified the treaty in parliamentary processes. The Republic of Ireland was the only member state to hold a referendum on the subject. In a first vote held on 12 June 2008 (the first Lisbon referendum) the treaty was rejected; however a second vote was held on 2 October 2009 (the second Lisbon referendum) and the treaty was approved.

The table below shows the ratification progress in European Union member states. Hungary was the first member state where the treaty was approved by a national parliament on 17 December 2007. Note that the assent of the head of state represents the approval of the parliamentary procedure, while the deposition of the instrument of ratification refers to the last step of ratification, which might require a separate signature of the head of state on the instrument of ratification for it to be deposited. For the discussion of the specific legal situation in countries which have encountered obstacles in the ratification process, see relevant section below the table.

Both houses of the Czech parliament have ratified the treaty, in February and May 2009. However, President Václav Klaus was opposed to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty at that time. He called for the process to be brought to an end and stated that he was in "no hurry" to ratify the document. In September 2008, he had also stated that he would not sign the treaty until Ireland had ratified it.

Prior to that, President Klaus stated that he was awaiting the verdict of the Constitutional Court concerning a complaint submitted by senators against certain parts of the treaty. The Court dismissed this complaint on 26 November 2008. However, the senators proceeded to request the Constitutional Court to assess the treaty as a whole. On 29 September 2009 a group of Czech senators lodged a fresh complaint with the Constitutional Court. According to Czech Constitution, the treaty cannot be ratified until a ruling of the Constitutional Court is delivered.

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