Czech Klaus to sign EU treaty after opt-out
EU leaders to discuss demand today
President Vaclav Klaus has promised to sign the EU Lisbon Treaty provided he gets the Czech opt-out from the EU charter of rights he has long demanded, Prime Minister Jan Fischer said yesterday.
Mr Klaus is the only European Union leader who has not ratified the treaty, aimed at giving the bloc of 500 million people a more united voice on the global scene by creating a long-term presidency and the post of foreign representative.
He has long opposed the treaty, saying it will turn the Union into a superstate that will take away sovereignty from member states.
But he has indicated he would drop his opposition if the Czechs won an opt-out from the charter of fundamental rights attached to the treaty. He says this is needed to protect the Czechs against property claims by Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War II.
Mr Fischer is to negotiate the demand with EU leaders, irritated by what they see as Mr Klaus’s foot-dragging, at a summit in Brussels today and tomorrow, and Mr Klaus’s pledge is designed to strengthen his negotiating position.
Asked whether Mr Klaus had promised to sign the treaty if his demand was met, Mr Fischer said: “Yes I have this guarantee, I have this assurance from the President, from our meeting late yesterday afternoon. I have no reason not to trust him.”
A spokesman for Klaus had no immediate comment.
Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU presidency until December, said earlier that he too expected Mr Klaus to sign the treaty.
“I feel convinced that he is prepared to sign given that we meet his demand that the Czech Republic can get an opt-out from the rights charter and that is a decision we are preparing and discussing with the member states right now,” he told reporters.
Apart from the opt-out, Mr Klaus must wait for a review of the treaty by the Czech Constitutional Court, expected next Tuesday.
Most lawyers expect the court to rule the treaty does not infringe the constitution.
Clearing the last two hurdles in the Czech Republic would allow the union to pick its new president. Former British prime minister Tony Blair is among those being considered, but his success is far from certain.