Czech court lifts final hurdle to EU treaty
The Czech Republic's Constitutional Court on Tuesday ruled that the European Union's reform treaty is legal, clearing the the final hurdle to it becoming law throughout the 27-nation bloc.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the last EU leader holding out against the Lisbon Treaty, had promised not to put up any more obstacles if it was cleared by the court.
The eurosceptic president did not immediately say however whether or when he would sign the treaty, which aims to streamline EU decision-making and would name a new European president.
But Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said he was "satisfied" with the verdict and that he expected Klaus to sign the treaty.
"The last hurdle has been cleared, and there is no obstacle to the ratification now," Fischer said in a statement.
Czech lawmakers approved the treaty this year but a group of senators challenged it at the court last month.
"The Lisbon Treaty ... as a whole ... does not run counter to the Czech constitution," Constitutional Court chairman Pavel Rychetsky said giving the ruling.
Klaus, who described the treaty as a threat to Czech sovereignty, said he would not sign before the verdict and the court said he could not sign before it had given a ruling.
After the Irish Republic's two referendums on the treaty and with renewed agonising in Britain over the measures, EU leaders have been anxiously waiting for Klaus to end the impasse.
At a summit last week, EU leaders agreed to give the Czech Republic an opt-out from parts of the treaty which Klaus had demanded.
Klaus had demanded an exemption to ensure that a rights charter inside the treaty does not allow ethnic Germans forced out of the former Czechoslovakia after World War II to reclaim their property.
The delay in implementing the treaty has hampered the work of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, whose mandate expired at the end of October.
The EU also has to wait with the nominations for the top two EU jobs -- the EU president and foreign affairs supremo.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy predicted at the Brussels summit last week however that the treaty could now come into force on December 1.
Klaus' signature is now the main question. "There is no deadline, it's really only up to him to decide," said Vlastimil Goettinger, the Czech Constitutional Court's adviser for foreign relations.
"Since everyone else has signed, (the treaty) is binding for us at the moment of (Klaus's) signature," he added.
The Lisbon Treaty is designed to streamline the running of the bloc, which has almost doubled in size to 27 nations since a swathe of ex-communist nations including the Czech Republic joined in 2004.
Backers of the treaty got more good news on Tuesday as a British newspaper said main opposition leader David Cameron -- widely tipped to be the next prime minister -- will drop plans for a referendum on the treaty.
The Conservative Party leader will shortly announce he will abandon a pledge to hold a vote on the treaty if his party wins the next general election and the document has not been ratified, the Daily Telegraph said.
Cameron had written to the Czech president urging him to delay ratifying the treaty, sparking anger from the leaders of France, Germany and Spain, media reports said last week.
