Parliament in new EU member state Latvia expected to ratify EU constitution

On the eve of their parliamentary vote, lawmakers in Latvia were poised to ratify the EU constitution despite the stinging French rejection of the text likely followed by a Dutch "no" Wednesday.

"I am 100 percent sure that our parliament will ratify the constitution. There is no doubt about that," Oskars Kastens, head of the parliamentary commission in charge of shepherding the text through the ratification process, said ahead of Thursday's vote.

"The constitution is a balanced document and will give power to both big and small countries. It will also create a base which will allow the EU to speak in one voice on foreign policy," said Kastens.

A Latvian "ja" would give a much-needed boost to the EU basic law, which was rejected by 55 percent of French voters and looked to be on the same path Wednesday in the Netherlands, where opinion surveys predicted a 60 percent "no" vote a few hours away from poll closing time.

Latvian lawmakers have been examining the text since January but a vote was delayed by translation mistakes. Kastens said he would personally supervise corrections of the "technical mistakes" in the document after it has been passed by parliament.

Two-thirds of lawmakers in the 100-strong parliament have to vote in favour the constitution for it to be ratified.

Latvia's constitution does not allow the EU basic law to be validated by a popular vote.

The parliaments in eight countries -- Austria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia -- have voted in favour of the constitution, which Spanish voters endorsed in a referendum.