(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-16 21:32

STRASBOURG -- Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said Wednesday that he hoped the majority of European Union (EU) states would ratify the Lisbon Treaty during Slovenia's EU presidency in the first half of the year.

"By signing the treaty, our task is far from being completed," the prime minister said when addressing the plenary session of the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg.

"We have now entered the period of ratification, which is - as we have learned from the 2005 experience - the most sensitive stage in the process of adoption of the treaty," he told the parliament, stressing that ratification was the sole responsibility of each member state.

He also extended congratulations to Hungary on having successfully completed the ratification process.

"We hope that by the end of the Slovenian Presidency, the majority of the member states will have followed in Hungary's footsteps," he said, adding that the parliament of his country would decide on the ratification before the end of this month.

Slovenia, which joined the EU in 2004, is the first new EU member to hold the 27-nation bloc's presidency.

"The goal is to have the Lisbon Treaty enter into force on January 1, 2009, which among other things also means that there is still much to be done as regards the necessary preparations," said the prime minister.

He said Slovenia was already cooperating with France, which will take over the rotating EU presidency in the second half of the year, and with the EP to ensure that "everything is in place for the treaty to enter into force".

The Lisbon Treaty, which would ensure greater efficiency and democratic functioning of the enlarged EU, was signed in December 13 in Lisbon by leaders of the EU nations.

It was regarded as a revised edition of the constitution treaty, which fell by the wayside in 2005 because French and Dutch voters rejected it in referenda.