Britannia Radio

EU OBSERVER 26.11.08
Czech court green-lights EU Lisbon Treaty
LUCIA KUBOSOVA

BRUSSELS - The Czech constitutional court has unanimously ruled
that the disputed parts of the Lisbon Treaty are in line with the
Czech Constitution but, the judges have admitted they did not analyse
the treaty as a whole, sparking speculation that the issue could be
raised again by its critics in the country.
In his closely watched verdict announced on Wednesday (26 November),
Vojen Guttler, the presiding judge rapporteur, argued that the new
reform treaty does not change the fundamental direction of the EU,
nor does it harm the sovereignty of the member states.

He added that a new provision in the treaty that clears out the terms
for countries that wish to leave the union is "the indisputable
confirmation" of their sovereignty, while a transfer of powers to the
EU level can only happen if it is approved by member states.

The statement contradicts the arguments put forward by President
Vaclav Klaus on Tuesday (25 November) in his address to the judges
during a public hearing. Reacting to the verdict, President Klaus
commented that the court's approach was "inexpert", "subjective" and
"political".

"I regret to state that the Constitutional Court has not given
appropriate response to my legal arguments. I expect a group of
deputies or senators will raise these and more other arguments
again," he said in a statement.

The court itself pointed out that it was only reacting to the
concrete questions received from senators earlier this year.
Rapporteur Guttler said that if the judges had reviewed the treaty as
a whole, they would not respect the right of other politicians or
institutions to raise other issues.

But the chair of the Czech Senate, Premysl Sobotka, of the ruling
centre-right Civic Democrat Party (ODS) said that it is "unlikely"
that senators would address the constitutional court again, CTZ
agency reported.

"At this moment, nothing is blocking the ratification of the Lisbon
Treaty in both parliamentary chambers" in the Czech Republic, Mr
Sobotka added. The ODS party is divided on the issue however, with
some deputies following the line of President Klaus, who argues that
the ratification should only continue if the treaty is approved in
Ireland.

Reactions in Brussels

Meanwhile, some EU personalities in Brussels rushed to comment on the
keenly awaited verdict of the Czech court.

"Today's decision of the Court brings to an end the treaty
ratification standstill in the Czech Republic," said European
Parliament president Hans-Gert Pottering and reminded Prague of its
key role as the country chairing EU's rotating presidency country in
the first half of 2009.

"In this regard in the European Parliament we trust that the new EU
Presidency will seriously contribute to push forward the ratification
process," he noted, adding that "ideally" this process should be
finalised by the June elections of the EU assembly.

"The decision of the Czech supreme court is very welcome, although
hardly a surprise," commented Andrew Duff, a British Liberal MEP in
the constitutional committee. He said that the interventions by both
senators and President Klaus were "erratic".

"Neither the Senate nor the President showed a sure grasp of the
realities of the legal constitutional order of the EU, or of the fact
that when the Czech Republic signed up to become a member state of
the Union it was subscribing not only to the acquis communautaire
[rules] of the past but also to all future obligations." [That's a
totally irrelevant remark! -cs]

On the other hand, Nigel Farrage, the leader of the UK's eurosceptics
in the EU legislature said that the verdict came as no real surprise.

"The pressure from the European Commission and the Czech government's
desperate need to fall in line with Brussels as it prepares to take
over the Presidency made it a foregone conclusion," he said in a
statement.

The European Commission said it does not want to comment on various
stages of the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty in member states but
its spokesperson [then did exacty that and - -] added: "We are
confident that the Czech parliament will honour the commitment which
the country made when the treaty was signed."