LEADALL: EU agrees to Lisbon deal with Czechs, as Blair's star wanes

By Ben Nimmo and Nicholas Rigillo Oct 29, 2009, 22:48 GMT

   Brussels - The European Union on Thursday cleared the way for its biggest reform in years, clinching a deal with the Czech Republic to bring the bloc's long-awaited Lisbon Treaty into force.

'I am happy to say that the (European) Council has been able to take a decision and agree on what was asked for by the Czech government and president,' said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.

'The road to ratification now stands open.'

The treaty seeks to strengthen the bloc's international standing by creating its first-ever European president and a more powerful foreign-policy chief.

Tony Blair had frequently been mentioned in connection with the presidential post. But in pre-summit meetings in Brussels, Europe's main political groupings agreed to a power-sharing deal whereby a conservative would be appointed to the EU presidency, while a socialist would take the foreign-policy portfolio.

That effectively shut Britain's former Labour premier out of the race.

But arguably the biggest victim of EU divisions on the first day of the bloc's regular autumn summit was the fight against climate change.

A row between Eastern and Western European members over who should pay the rest of the world to combat global warming threatened to derail the EU's bid to seize the initiative ahead of international negotiations in December in Copenhagen.

'We have not solved it. This will be for conclusions tomorrow,' Reinfeldt said.

The agreement with the Czech Republic, meanwhile, should clear the way for Vaclav Klaus, the eurosceptic president in Prague, to sign the treaty, bringing the pact into law across the EU within weeks - if the Czech constitutional court allows him to.

   The Czech obstacle has already stalled negotiations on the composition of the next European Commission, whose mandate formally expires on Sunday.

The current commission is now expected to stay on in a caretaker role until the new rules come into force, presumably early next year. Appointments for the treaty's new posts, meanwhile, are expected to be decided at an extraordinary summit being planned for next month.

   Thursday's deal allows the Czech Republic not to implement the Lisbon Treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights, a privilege already secured by Britain and Poland two years ago.

Klaus had argued that the charter could allow Germans expelled from his country in 1945 to reclaim their homes.

The breakthrough came after Sweden brokered an agreement with Slovakia, Hungary, Germany and Austria, all of whom had challenged the Czech stance.

Leaders broke into applause when Reinfeldt finally announced the deal after hours of painstaking shuttle diplomacy.

Klaus' chief of staff, Jiri Weigl, said in Brussels that the president would not set any new conditions for ratifications and that his only condition had been fulfilled.

   Under EU rules, an opt-out from a treaty has to be formally ratified by all member states. Reinfeldt said that the way to do so would be to formalize the Czech opt-out the next time the EU negotiates an international treaty - for instance, when it accepts a new member. Croatia hopes to join the bloc in 2011 or 2012.

Blair's chances had seemed strong when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown backed his predecessor for the job of EU president ahead of the summit. But his star waned when fellow European socialist leaders refused to back him.

   'We socialists aspire to the post of high representative,' Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero said.

Other socialists singled out Blair's support of the 2003 Iraq invasion, which split the EU, as the reasons for their opposition.

Alternative contenders for the post include Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister, and his Dutch colleague Jan Peter Balkenende. Both enjoy the backing of smaller EU states, which fear that a superstar president might overshadow them in talks with world powers such as the United States and China.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek weighed in on the discussion by saying a woman should take the top job instead.

   'There are a number of suitable women candidates, and I urge the (summit) to consider this,' Buzek said.

On climate, nine EU newcomers from the former communist bloc rejected an offer from Sweden of a rebate if they agreed to an EU formula for sharing the multi-billion-euro price tag to help developing nations mitigate the impact of climate change.

   The nine - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - said they would not accept any EU formula based on their greenhouse-gas emissions.

   Diplomats were set to work through the night to propose a fresh compromise taking all those positions into account.