Czech court clears EU reform treaty

12 April 2012

The Czech Republic's constitutional court has endorsed the EU reform treaty, ruling it was in line with the country's constitution.

The decision has removed the last legal hurdle for the treaty and intensifies pressure on Euro-sceptic President Vaclav Klaus to sign the document.

Issuing the ruling, court chief judge Pavel Rychetsky said the so-called Lisbon Treaty "does not violate the constitution."

President Klaus is the last obstacle to the full ratification of the treaty, which is designed to transform Europe into a more unified and powerful global player. The charter, which was bogged down in negotiations for almost a decade, has been ratified by all other 26 EU nations.

President Klaus was awaiting the Brno-based court's ruling before deciding whether to endorse the treaty.

The court was asked to rule by a group of senators who filed a motion arguing the treaty is not in line with the constitution. Last year, the court dismissed a similar complaint.

Failure of the treaty would send the EU into an unprecedented crisis. Negotiators say its reforms - creating a new EU president post, giving more power to the foreign policy chief and streamlining EU decision-making - are needed to make the EU more effective.

Last week, EU leaders agreed to his last-minute demand - an opt-out from the treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights in return for his signing of it. President Klaus said he was not planning to make any further demands.

The Czech leader asked for the option over worries of property claims by ethnic Germans stripped of their land and expelled after the Second World War.

But it was considered he had used the demand for the opt-out to try to scuttle ratification of the treaty, which he opposes. He fears the treaty would hand over too many national powers to EU institutions in Brussels.

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