Tuesday September 29 2009
A group of Czech senators filed a new court challenge to the Lisbon Treaty at the country's Constitutional Court, said Tomas Langasek, a spokesman for the Brno, a Czech Republic-based institution.
The senators seek to overturn the validity of the treaty on the grounds that it may violate national sovereignty. A previous challenge to the treaty in 2008 was rejected by the 15-member panel.
The case comes as voters in Ireland prepare for vote on the Lisbon Treaty for a second time after it was rejected in a similar referendum in June last year.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has yet to sign the treaty after it was approved by both houses of Parliament, has said he will wait until after the Irish vote and the court challenge before deciding how he will proceed.
The Lisbon Treaty must be approved by all 27 members of the EU.
© Bloomberg
- Lenka Ponikelska
Czech senators file new complaint against Lisbon treaty
published: 29.09.2009, 15:19 | updated: 29.09.2009 15:22:55
Senátoři předložili nový návrh na ústavní přezkum Lisabonu
Brno/Prague - Czech senators, mainly from the Civic Democrats (ODS), submitted their proposal for further examination whether the EU reform Lisbon treaty complies with the constitution to the Constitutional Court today, senator Jiri Oberfalzer, representing the complainants, told CTK.
Critics of their step point out that this obstruction will threaten the Czech Republic's position and influence in the EU.
The government today called the senators' step a move towards the completion of the treaty's ratification process.
The new proposal is aimed at the whole treaty, while last autumn the Constitutional Court, on the basis of the senators' first complaint, was to examine only its most controversial parts. The court concluded that they are not at variance with the Czech constitutional order.
Oberfalzer said the court should clearly say whether the EU would still be an international organisation and not a certain "superstate" after the adoption of the Lisbon treaty.
"The Lisbon treaty is namely an immense step towards federation and federation is a superstate," Oberfalzer said previously.
The senators' complaint met with various reactions on the political scene.
ODS chairman Mirek Topolanek said after a meeting with EC President Jose Barroso today that the Czech Republic might lose a seat in the European Commission if President Vaclav Klaus did not sign the Lisbon treaty and if Czech senators filed a complaint against it with the Constitutional Court.
Topolanek connected his own political career with the future of the Lisbon treaty.
Topolanek's rival, Social Democrat (CSSD) chairman Jiri Paroubek today called on the ODS leadership and Topolanek to discourage the senators from filing a complaint against the Lisbon treaty.
Paroubek, who will talk to Barroso on Wednesday, said a party chairman should have influence on his deputies and senators in the fundamental matters.
Czech Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fuele told reporters today that the cabinet considers the senators' step a significant move towards the completion of the treaty's ratification, as after the Constitutional Court decides on the complaint, Klaus may sign the treaty to complete the ratification process.
Klaus, a Eurosceptic and opponent of the Lisbon treaty, has not yet signed the document after both houses of parliament approved it. He said he would wait for the Constitutional Court's decision on the new complaint.
The Lisbon treaty should be ratified by all 27 EU member states.
The Irish who rejected the document in their first referendum last June are to make their decision in the repeated referendum on Saturday.
Even if the Czech Republic were the only country not to ratify the Lisbon treaty, it would not take force and the EU would have to continue to function according to the Nice treaty.
The Nice treaty stipulates the lowering of the number of EU commissioners from the current 27. Czech and European politicians do not rule out that the Czech Republic might lose its commissioner.
Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz
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