Czech lower House approves Lisbon Treaty 

Deputies from both government and opposition ranks voted to adopt the document, which aims to reform the EU's institutions to make them more flexible after the bloc's expansion. 

The treaty must still be ratified in the upper House, the Senate, where it may sit for weeks or even months as many right-wing senators are demanding that the country first ratifies a plan to host a US missile defence shield base (EurActiv 30/01/09). 

Most of the 27 member states have adopted the treaty and the Czech delay has irked some EU partners, who have pressured Prague, which holds the EU's rotating presidency, to adopt the document quickly. 

The Lisbon Treaty must be approved by all EU members to take effect. 

The treaty suffered a major blow when Irish voters rejected it in a referendum last year. Ireland plans to hold a new vote later in 2009. 

It also faces a challenge from the constitutional court in Germany and has not been signed by the Polish president. 

The treaty would give the EU a long-term president and a stronger foreign policy chief, and would take away individual countries' veto rights in some areas. 

Some members of the right-wing ruling Civic Democratic party in the Czech Republic voted against the text due to what they described as the threat that it would infringe on national sovereignty. Some have even threatened to quit the ranks of the minority administration if ratification is completed. 

(EurActiv with Reuters)