(LISBON) - Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates has decided to seek ratification of the EU's new reform treaty by parliament rather than in a referendum, Lusa news agency reported Wednesday.

The decision made by the socialist prime minister's government will be formally announced in parliament Wednesday afternoon when deputies are to debate the so-called Lisbon treaty which was signed by the 27 EU leaders last month.

The treaty will streamline the way the European Union is run and replaces the failed constitution, which was torpedoed by referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005.

A socialist party panel agreed overnight with a broad-based majority to Socrates' proposal to seek parliamentary approval rather than submit the document to Portuguese voters, a promise the socialists made in 2005, panel members told Lusa.

"The Socialist party committed itself to (a referendum) on the constitutional treaty," Lusa quoted Socrates as telling the meeting.

"Now we're talking about the Lisbon treaty which did not exist at the time (...). Circumstances have completely changed. It's a different treaty."

The government had decided to announce details of the ratification process at the end of its six-month presidency which started on July 1 last year, but also indicated it would keep all options open.

Slovenia, which took over from Portugal on January 1, urged its European Union partners Tuesday to carefully weigh how to ratify the new treaty.

While the draft constitution was open to ratification through parliament or potentially perilous referendum, the reform treaty which replaces it was designed to avoid any setback through voter distrust.

Of the EU's member countries, only Ireland is constitutionally bound to hold a referendum.

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