Portugal houdt referendum over EU-grondwet in december 2005 (en)

The new Portuguese prime minister has said he would like a referendum on the EU Constitution to be held at the same time as local elections in December.

Speaking at a ceremony after being sworn in on Saturday (12 March), Jose Socrates announced he would support changes in the national constitution to allow for both votes to take place at once.

Portuguese law imposes restrictions on the time allowed between an election and a referendum.

However, the new Socialist leader argues that a single date for both "consultations of the popular will" would save the public money and boost voter turn-out.

"There is no political reason to stop the referendum on the European Union constitution from being held together with municipal elections", Mr Socrates said, according to the BBC.

The national Constitution also needs to be amended to allow for such a referendum, which is currently forbidden.

The Portuguese constitutional court ruled last December against the wording of the question that had previously been proposed, arguing it was unclear.

No surprises expected in Lisbon

There is strong pro-European sentiment in Portugal, as the citizens give the EU credit for helping their country on the way out of dictatorship.

Both main political parties and most opinion formers favour the new EU Treaty and a referendum as a way to ratify it.

The ruling Socialists won last month's parliamentary elections, ousting a Social Democratic government which was planning a referendum but had not set a date for the vote.

But while there is 40 percent support among the Portuguese for the new EU Constitution, with only seven percent opposed, about 53 percent of citizens do not know how they would vote, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about the document, according to a Eurobarometer survey.

After neighbouring Spain started the EU referendum marathon in February, France is set to follow on 29 May and the Netherlands on 1 June.