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Czech Republic - Lisbon Treaty
Lisbon Treaty heads into Czech court
Article published on the 2009-10-27 Latest update 2009-10-27 12:56 TU
Czech president Vaclav Klaus is the last EU leader yet to ratify the Lisbon Treaty
(Photo: Reuters/Petr Josek)
The highest court in the Czech Republic has opened a hearing to assess whether the EU’s Lisbon Treaty complies with the country's constitution. The Czech Republic is the last member of the 27-nation bloc to ratify the treaty.
The court is hearing a complaint by 17 senators who want a 15-member panel to decide whether the treaty forms the legal foundations for the creation of a European "super state".
The group, backed by Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the only EU leader not to have signed the treaty, argue that if it does, then it violates the Czech constitution and gives too much power to Brussels.
Klaus angered the EU when he asked for an opt-out from the treaty three weeks ago in what his critics took as another attempt to delay the ratification.
The opt-out, designed to make sure the treaty will not allow ethnic Germans forced out of former Czechoslovakia for alleged World War II collaboration with the Nazis to claim back their property, will be on the table for an EU Council meeting in Brussels on October 29-30.
Prime Minister Jan Fischer, however, believes that the hearing will not have been settled by then.
"My forecast is that the court will not decide in this matter (on Tuesday)," he said on Monday.
"I expect we will learn when the court will meet and pass its verdict, which will be an important signal for the EU Council meeting," he added.
Should the court find that it does not affect sovereignty, then the EU will then be able to begin implementing its reforms, including the appointment of a new permanent EU president.
The treaty however cannot take effect unless all 27 member states have signed up.
Lisbon Treaty
