After the vote of Portugal’s Parliament, the Lisbon Treaty has now been ratified by nine member states. But more "go-aheads" are expected to arrive, for instance from the German Bundestag. "This is another important step towards the common objective of enforcing the new Treaty on January 1st 2009", explains the president of the EU Commission, the Portuguese José Manuel Barroso. From Brussels, Barroso congratulates the MEP of his country on the vast majority that yesterday approved the treaty, which will replace the Constitution signed in 2004 and rejected by the French and Dutch voters. The missing ratifications will be given through the Parliament, except that of Ireland which will undergo a public referendum; right now the polls say the ballot of 12th June is at risk. That’s why Pat Cox, the former president of the EU Parliament, now at the helm of the European Movement, committed himself to the campaign for "saying yes". And he explains: "We must be very careful about the message we send" with our vote. "We cannot spark off psychological or political explosions" against Europe, especially "at such a time of economic crisis".
