Constitution to be signed in Rome

The EU constitutional treaty will be signed by EU member state leaders in Rome on 20 November.

In Paris for bilateral discussions with Chirac, Italian premier Berlusconi said the ceremony would take place in the same room in the Capitol where the Treaty of Rome was signed in 1957.

The 25 member states will then have two years to ratify the historic document, either by parliamentary vote or by national referendum, before it is planned to take effect at the end of 2006.