Leaders sign EU constitution; nations must ratify document

ROME (AP) -- European leaders signed the EU's first constitution today, a diplomatic triumph they hope will give the union a sharper international profile and speed up decision-making in a club now embracing 25 nations.
The treaty was the result of 28 months of sometimes acrimonious debate among the 25 EU governments and now faces ratification in national parliaments. At least nine EU nations also plan to put it to a referendum, increasing chances that it may not take effect in 2007 as scheduled. A "no" result in any country would stop the constitution in its tracks.
The EU leaders signed the document at the Campidoglio, a Michaelangelo-designed complex of buildings on Rome's Capitoline Hill, along with the leaders of Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey and Croatia -- four candidates for EU membership.
The event was overshadowed by disagreement over the makeup of the next EU executive that stems from misgivings about a conservative Italian nominee.
On the margins of the signing, the leaders sought to resolve the dispute over Rocco Buttiglione, the incoming EU justice commissioner, who is opposed by a large segment of the 732-member European Parliament.
The conservative Catholic and papal confidant raised concerns by saying that he believed homosexuality is a sin and that women are better off married and at home.