Estonia and Luxembourg on Tuesday called on the European Union to continue with the ratification of the EU constitution, said reports from Tallinn, capital of Estonia.

The two countries made the appeal during the meeting between Estonian Prime Minister Urmas Paet and visiting Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister Jean Asselborn.

Those countries which have not started the process of ratification should take actions to push the process forward, although France and The Netherlands vetoed the constitution, said Asselborn, noting Finland is very likely to adopt the constitution in its upcoming referendum.

Paet also expressed his support for the process.

The EU constitution was designed to streamline EU institutions and improve the efficiency of the bloc's decision-making after the group expanded from its original 15 members to 25.

Fifteen EU members have approved the charter, while France and The Netherlands rejected the charter in 2005. Following the two rejections, Britain, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden and Poland said the ratification process should be postponed.

On June 16, 2005, the EU leaders decided during a summit to extend the ratification deadline beyond the scheduled November 2006.

Source: Xinhua