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Finland's president ratifies EU's Lisbon Treaty

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-13 09:42

STOCKHOLM -- Finnish President Tarja Halonenformally signed the European Union's Lisbon Treaty on Friday, completing the final approval procedures of the treaty in Finland, according to reports reaching here from the capital of Finland Helsinki.

The Finnish 200-seat parliament approved the treaty in June by a vote of 151 against 27, while 21 members were absent.

The treaty, signed by EU heads of state and government in December last year, will make the bloc's much needed institutional reforms possible. It needs to be ratified by all EU member states before it can enter into force. But the treaty was turned down by the Irish public in a referendum in June.