The Italian government on Friday gave its green light to the Lisbon Treaty which is aimed at making the the expanded European Union easier to govern.
A government bill ratifying the treaty will now go to parliament for definitive approval.
The government's green light to the treaty was announced by the minister for simplification, Roberto Calderoli of the devolutionist Northern League, who also voiced his party's reservations on the treaty.
''Although the Lisbon text represents a significant improvement over the (defunct) European Constitution, the League's reservations remain,'' he told the press.
Calderoli added that his party ''will present an ad hoc bill to hold a referendum on the treaty. The people should be consulted when such a chunk of the country's sovereignty is given away''.
The Lisbon Treaty was drawn up last year after a proposed European Constitution was torpedoed in referendum votes in France and the Netherlands.
The main difference between the two is that the Lisbon Treaty amends existing treaties, rather than replacing them with a single all-encompassing new constitution .
This will mean member states can avoid putting the treaty to a referendum test, which in France and the Netherlands were transformed into domestic political tests.
However, Ireland has decided to hold a referendum on the treaty, the outcome of which is anything but certain.
The reform treaty recycles many of the proposals presented in the constitution including a streamlined decision-making process; a strong foreign policy chief; and a full-time executive as opposed to a rotating presidency .
It will allow more decisions to be taken by majority voting, notably on justice and security issues, and give more say to the European and national parliaments.
The treaty also sets a ceiling of 750 members for the European Parliament in Strasbourg, with a minimum of six seats for the smaller members, and cuts the number of executive commissioners from 27 to 18.
The Lisbon Treaty was signed last December and member states have a year to ratify the treaty in order to allow it to go into effect on January 1, 2009.
