EU leaders last night conceded to the demands of Czech President Vaclav Klaus in order to bring to an end an eight-year process intended to give the union a new set of rules, known as the Lisbon Treaty.

The 27 leaders unanimously agreed to give the Czech Republic the option to opt-out of the Charter of Fundamental rights, annexed to the Treaty, similar to the opt-out already given to the UK and Poland.

"We agreed on a text that will make it possible for the Lisbon treaty to come into force as soon as possible. This is what we needed to do to get the full ratification of the Czech Republic in place and the road of ratification is now open," a satisfied Swedish Prime Minister Fredrick Reinfeldt said at the end of yesterday's talks.

"The new treaty reminds me of a marathon with hurdles and we have now removed the last hurdle to have the Treaty into force," continued Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

Mr Klaus is known to be pleased with the deal and is expected to add his signature to the Treaty in the coming days following a final verdict on the compatibility of the Treaty with the Czech Constitution expected on Tuesday.

This breakthrough will now open the way for other institutional issues to be settled, including the appointment of a new European Commission to be headed for the second time by Mr Barroso.

During a meeting of EPP leaders yesterday prior to the beginning of the summit, President Barroso gave an overview of the current state of play with regards to the nominations of new Commissioners by the 27 member states and urged those who have still not made up their mind to put forward their nominations as soon as possible.

Asked by The Times to state when Malta will be submitting its nomination and what is keeping him to delay the issue, Prime Minister Gonzi said that Malta will do so at the opportune time.

"We will not be making our nomination just because the other member states are doing so," he said.