[JURIST] The upper house of the Dutch parliament voted 50-15 Tuesday to approve the EU reform treaty [JURIST news archive], formally known as the Treaty of Lisbon [official website; PDF text]. Last month, Netherlands Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende [official profile] said that he would press on with ratification, even after Irish voters rejected the treaty [JURIST reports] in a referendum earlier that month. The Dutch parliament's lower house approved [European Voice report] the treaty by a vote of 111-39 in June. Xinhua has more. Dutch News has local coverage.

Other EU countries have delayed ratifying the treaty [JURIST report] until the full effect of the Irish referendum is known. The future of the pact is currently in doubt as it must be approved by all 27 EU states in order to take effect. EU leaders signed the reform treaty [JURIST report] last December, and 14 countries have ratified the document [JURIST archive] so far. In 2005, a draft European constitution [JURIST news archive] failed when voters in France and the Netherlands [JURIST reports] rejected the proposal in national referenda. EU leaders are expected to meet in Brussels next week to discuss how to move ahead in light of the Irish vote.