Klaus to be last in EU to decide on Lisbon Treaty

Jun 23, 2009, 22:10 GMT

Prague - Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who opposes the European Union's stalled reform Lisbon Treaty, said Tuesday that he will be the last in the EU to make up his mind on whether to ratify the pact.

Klaus, whose signature is needed for the Czech Republic's approval of the pact, told Czech Radio that he will wait for the result of a planned Czech constitutional probe and ratification decisions in Germany, Ireland and Poland.

'I will certainly not rush,' Klaus told the station. 'I will certainly wait until after all those things about which I have talked about, which include a constitutional complaint by our senators, ... happen.'

'The Irish have not voted again. Poland has not signed the Lisbon Treaty, and Germany has not signed the Lisbon Treaty. So I am not the last Mohican who is fighting against all,' he said.

Klaus has kept Europe on tenterhooks on whether he will ink the pact, which cleared the Czech Parliament in May after delays and a constitutional probe.

The Lisbon Treaty, which was designed to boost the EU's global standing through reforming its institutions, has been stalled since Ireland rejected it in a referendum in June 2008. The accord takes effect only after all 27 EU members ratify it.

The EU hopes that a new Irish vote planned for October would revive the pact. The bloc gave Ireland legally binding guarantees that the pact will not force it to change family and tax laws or give up military neutrality.

Aside from Ireland, the treaty requires presidential signatures in Germany and Poland.

In Germany, the signature awaits a ruling by the country's Constitutional Court, which is expected to say on June 30 whether the pact is in line with German law.

'If the German court decided that the Lisbon Treaty is at odds with the German constitution, then there is nothing to talk about in Europe,' Klaus said.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski, also a treaty critic, said that he would not sign the pact unless Ireland reverses its rejection.

In another hurdle, a group of Czech senators, who like Klaus oppose the accord as a threat to national sovereignty, plan to ask the Czech top court to review the treaty for a second time.