Brussels, 05/12/2006 (Agence Europe) - As promised, Finland, which will hold the rotating EU Presidency until 31 December, ratified the Constitutional Treaty on Tuesday. Fifteen Member States had ratified the Treaty before Finland. The clear vote by MPs in Finland's single chamber parliament (125 votes for, 39 against) is first and foremost symbolic in nature, because it is unlikely ever to come into force. Through this vote, Finland wanted to send a strong political signal before the resumption of discussions on the reform of the European Institutions, which is planned under German Presidency in the first half of 2007. Speaking in Brussels, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said “the Constitutional Treaty was a balanced whole” and opposed carving up the text (see related article). Over the last months, Finland has conducted a series of diplomatic consultations with its EU partners, but nothing has filtered out. Mr Vanhanen is due to take stock with his counterparts at the European Council of 14-15 December of the outcome of these consultations, as a way of handing the baton over to Germany, which intends to get down to work quickly, with Chancellor Angela Merkel reporting on progress to the European Council in June 2007. Since the draft Constitutional Treaty was rejected by the French and Dutch in 2005, seven countries have postponed indefinitely or suspended the ratification process: Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Ireland, Sweden, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. Of these countries, only the Czech Republic could make a decision on the Treaty in the coming months. (oj)