(BRUSSELS) - Belgium gave the European Union's beleaguered Lisbon Treaty a boost on Thursday by wrapping up the parliamentary ratification process in the country with the approval of the Flemish assembly.

The controversial treaty, which seeks to streamline EU institutions as the bloc expands, now needs to be signed by Belgian King Albert II for it to be ratified by Belgium.

Irish voters rejected the treaty, which must be ratified by all 27 EU member states to take effect, in a June referendum, plunging the European Union into a new institutional crisis.

"Today's vote brings the number of countries that have completed the parliamentary process on the Treaty of Lisbon to twenty two," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement.

"This is a strong signal of how important it is that all member states are heard during the ratification process," he added.

Flemish parliament spokesman Dirk Nuyts said 78 lawmakers voted in favour, 22 against and three abstained, closing the parliamentary procedure in Belgium.

The Flemish parliament was the last of Belgium's seven assemblies that still needed to vote following approval by the two chambers of federal parliament and the four other regional or community assemblies.

"As a founding member of the Union, it was very important for Prime Minister Yves Leterme that Belgium could ratify the Lisbon Treaty," his spokesman Peter Poulussen told AFP, congratulating the seven parliaments.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso also congratulated Belgium, thanking authorities "for their strong support for the treaty."

"We are privileged to have the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, which is rightly known as the capital of Europe, and I want to thank the Belgian fovernment for the continuing support for the European project," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the EU's presidency, said Thursday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg that he was determined to solve the bloc's treaty by the end of the year.

Sarkozy said he and senior EU officials were already working on proposals but that he particularly wanted to hear what the Irish government had to say about the best way forward, insisting that Dublin will not be left behind.

"We must bring together everybody. The European family is made up of 27 states. We cannot leave anyone behind," Sarkozy said.

The French leader also said he supported a second mandate for Barroso at the head of the European Commission, where his current term ends next year.

Later, Portugal also said that it would support the former Portuguese prime minister for the job.

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