Czech court lifts final hurdle to EU treaty ratification (Roundup)

Nov 3, 2009, 10:36 GMT

The 15 judges of the top Czech Czech Republic\'s top court, the Constitutional Court, are seen during a hearing of Czech Constitutional Court about the European Union\'s Lisbon treaty, in Brno, Czech Republic, 03 November 2009. The EU wants the Lisbon Treaty to become valid on 01 January 2010. EPA/STR

   Prague - The Czech Republic's Constitutional Court Tuesday ruled that the European Union's Lisbon Treaty does not clash with the Czech constitution, allowing the pact's ratification which now only needs to be signed by Czech president Vaclav Klaus.

  The unanimous ruling by the court's 15 judges clears the way for Czech President Vaclav Klaus - so far a treaty opponent - to ratify the accord aimed at boosting the EU's global clout.

Court chairman Pavel Rychetsky said the treaty was 'not at odds' with the constitution.

   'The last obstacle has been overcome, and nothing stands in the way of completing the ratification,' Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said in a statement.

He said he expects the president, who conditioned his signature on an opt-out from the EU's rights charter that was granted last week, to sign the treaty now.

The pact cannot be further challenged in the top court, the chief judge said. 'The Lisbon Treaty is a decided matter after today's verdict,' Rychetsky said at a briefing televised by the CT24 news channel.

   The verdict also brings the EU leaders closer to picking the bloc's new president, a post outlined by the treaty to replace EU's six-month rotating presidencies.

   French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said he expects the accord to come into force as soon as December 1. The EU wants the new institutions to be in place as of January 1.

   Klaus, a treaty opponent who has been holding out on his signature since the Czech parliament approved the treaty in May, said Friday he would not block the treaty once the court gave him a green light.

   It is unclear when the president will do so. His aides have so far declined to say when he would react to the verdict.

   On Wednesday, the president is set to start a four-day working visit in the United States. He is to return to Prague on Saturday, his website said. On Monday, he is expected to attend a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's collapse in the German capital.

   At their summit in Brussels Thursday, leaders of EU member states agreed to an opt-out from a part of the Lisbon Treaty, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which Klaus views as a threat to Czech citizens' property rights.

   The highest Czech court, based in Brno, ruled last year that key elements of the treaty were in accordance with the constitution. Tuesday's ruling was in response to a second challenge to the treaty.

   A group of Czech senators, who lodged that challenge in late September, do not plan to further object to the pact, Senator Jiri Oberfalzer told Czech Television after the ruling.

   Czech opponents see the Lisbon Treaty as a threat to national sovereignty and a bad deal for small EU countries.

   The tribunal ruled that the treaty would not strip the country of its sovereignty, reasoning that a voluntary, controlled shift of competences may boost it through 'a joint policy of the integrated entity.'

   The treaty champions say that the accord paves way for the 27-member bloc's ambitious institutional reform that aims to turn the EU into an influential global player by making it more effective.

   Aside from introducing a permanent EU presidency, the accord, which was born out of a failed EU constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005, establishes an office of a foreign policy chief. It also strips EU members of veto rights in most fields.