The Lisbon Treaty took another step toward becoming the law of Europe as Romanian President Traian Basescu signed the document earlier today. The text was ratified in the Romanian parliament on Monday virtually unanimously.

The treaty is controversial among many in Europe, particularly in Britain, because it is viewed as an undercover European constitution that cedes important sovereign powers to Brussels.

After Romanian mps voted 387-to-1 to ratify the treaty, the country’s foreign ministry said the motion “confirms Romania’s commitment to advancing the European project.”

Brussels voiced its satisfaction over the development, with European Commission President José Manuel Barroso saying he appreciated “the commitment given to early approval of the treaty by both the Romanian government and parliament” and described the decision as “an important step towards our objective of a new treaty in force by Jan. 1, 2009.”

Barroso also said he hoped other states would “quickly follow the lead given by the four countries that have now approved the treaty.” Hungary, Slovenia and Malta preceded Romania in ratifying the treaty by parliamentary vote.

Barroso likely had France in mind, which, along with Slovakia, is slated to begin the ratification process later this week.

Paris is already moving in that direction. On Monday the legislature voted to clear the way for ratification to begin. This required changing France’s constitution, which contained a reference to the failed EU constitution. Legislators voted by a three-quarters majority to delete the citation.

The EU constitution failed dramatically in France in 2005 when it was put to a democratic referendum.

Like the failed constitution, the Lisbon Treaty establishes a new EU presidency and a new European foreign-policy chief. It also establishes citizens of member states as EU citizens, and requires obedience to EU laws and duties above those of one’s own nation.

However, this time around, EU governments are seeking to avoid putting the new treaty to the people and keep ratification exclusively inside the halls of government.

The cloaked constitution faces a long road ahead, as the Union’s 27 member states must each ratify the document. But if wary citizens and democratic referenda are kept out of the mix, Lisbon could conceivably become law right on schedule: Jan. 1, 2009.

For more on this subject, read “Ten Things You Might Not Know About the Lisbon Treaty.”