Hurdle cleared

The Czech Republic's highest court has thrown out a legal challenge to the Lisbon reform treaty, effectively clearing the way for the last European Union country to ratify it.

Court chairman Pavel Rychetsky ruled that the treaty was "not at odds" with the country's constitution. The challenge was the last obstacle preventing the eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus from signing the document.

A group of senators, allied to Klaus, had entered the complaint, arguing that the treaty would erode the country's national sovereignty.

One of the Czech critics' chief objections was the fear that the treaty could provide an opening for claims on the country's territory by families of Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War.

Last stop: Klaus' desk

Klaus had promised to sign the treaty, provided the Constitutional Court dismissed the challenge. EU leaders bought his approval last week when they granted the Czechs the right to opt out of the disputed Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The country is the only member of the European Union not to have ratified the reforms, which need the unanimous approval of all member states to come into force.

The reform-package is designed to streamline decision-making across the EU's 27 members. It also foresees creating two new powerful posts to give the bloc more bargaining power on the world stage: an EU president and an EU foreign minister.

Until now, the European Union's presidency has passed every six months to a different member-state.

However, critics of the reforms, such as Klaus, have expressed concerns that they will turn the EU into a super-state that is far less democratic.

The precursor to the Lisbon treaty – the EU constitution – was defeated in separate referendums in France and the Netherlands, effectively ensuring its demise.

If all now goes to plan, the Lisbon reforms, named after the Portuguese capital where they were agreed upon, will come into effect on January 1, 2010.

nw/AFP/dpa
Editor: Jennifer Abramsohn