Czech government says EU Treaty not unconstitutional[fr][de] 

The Czech cabinet reached the conclusion that the Lisbon Treaty "in its entirety" is in line with the country's constitution which will not need altering, the daily Lidove Noviny reported. 

The assessment comes in stark contrast to earlier statements by the eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus, who said earlier this month that "it is beyond any doubt that the Lisbon Treaty will significantly change the character of the EU as such and, consequently, the legal status of the Czech Republic within its framework". 

Meeting the German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin last week (25 June), Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, had, however, already indicated a likely positive assessment, saying he was optimistic that the parliamentary ratification process would continue once the Court had ruled. 

However, the Court is not obliged to follow the government's assessment in its ruling. Its judgement is expected in September or October, ahead of the next EU summit, where leaders want to decide how to proceed with the Lisbon Treaty following its rejection by the Irish (EurActiv 13/06/08). 

According to Klaus, "the decision of the Constitutional Court on this matter will be, and will probably remain for a long time, one of the most important and most responsible decisions in the history of the Czech constitutional judiciary". 

Even if the court does declare the new treaty is not unconstitutional, parliamentary ratification remains uncertain as Topolanek's ruling Civic Democratic Party (CDP) includes a strong eurosceptic faction, which could block the ratification in the Senate, where the CDP has a majority. 

The uncertain Czech situation overshadowed the last EU summit on 19-20 June, with leaders declaring that the treaty would be formally dead if a second EU member state voted it down. Nevertheless, the Czechs resisted pressure to speed up the ratification process at home (EurActiv 20/06/08). The Czech Republic also lobbied successfully to include a clause in the summit conclusions stressing that the process will be put on hold until the court gives its opinion.