Luxembourge back EU constitional treaty

Luxembourg has voted yes to the EU Constitution. And the gamble of Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker seems to have paid off. Now with all of the votes counted over 56% of Luxembourg's 230,000 strong electorate has voted yes and under 44 % said no to the charter. Prime Minister Juncker staked his reputation and his job on a yes vote - promising to resign if his people said no to the EU charter. The EU constition cannot go ahead unless it is ratified by all 25 member states, either in a referendum or a parliamentary vote.

Before today 12 EU members had ratified the charter. After the rejections last month by France and the Netherlands, European leaders meeting at an ill-tempered summit in Brussels decided on a long period of reflection on the Treaty. This prompted some countries to suspend their ratification process.

But not so Luxembourg, where Prime Minister Juncker believes that a yes vote could once again revive the charter - however, many diplomats now believe the document is already a dead letter.