Parliamentary scrutiny of the treaty has already been deferred once, in December 2008 (EurActiv 10/12/08), with a view to holding a parliamentary debate and possibly a vote on 3 February 2009.
The Czech parliament's speaker announced that the vote will now take place on February 15, buying more time for the foreign affairs committee to scrutinise certain aspects of the document. However, the speaker, Miloslav Vlcek, appeared to draw a line in the sand by stressing that parliament could not keep postponing the vote indefinitely.
The ruling ODS party is deeply divided over the controversial treaty. The issue has become a political hot potato for Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, who currently heads the EU in his capacity as Council presidency holder.
The conflict within the party was summarised neatly this week by the ODS's Petr Nečas, the Czech Republic's deputy prime minister and minister for labour and social affairs, in a 'European web chat' on the Czech Presidency's homepage:
"ODS is not a Eurosceptic party because it has always been in favour of Czech membership of the EU. I consider the Lisbon Treaty as a compromise that can be reached with difficulty. I can also imagine the functioning of the EU without the Lisbon Treaty. Every month, every week, every day of the existing functioning of the EU in compliance with the Nice Treaty rules shows that the Lisbon Treaty is not an inevitable necessity. As a member of the government, I voted in favour of the Lisbon Treaty. I respect the international obligations of the Czech government and as a member of the Czech parliament I will support it. But do not ask me to praise this treaty."
In a poll published this week by the Czech agency STEM, 64% of Czechs said they were in favour of the treaty's ratification, despite 70% of the respondents' acknowledgement that they do not fully understand the changes that the treaty entails.
STEM analysts argued that the contradiction occurred because a majority of those polled believe the Czech EU Presidency to be raising the country's profile in Europe, fearing that failure to ratify the treaty could damage this new-found prestige.
Meanwhile, Germany's constitutional court this week received a second complaint concerning the treaty's constitutionality, which has the potential to delay German ratification of the treaty by several months.
Finally, Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen told Irish parliamentarians on Tuesday (27 January) that no date has yet been set for this year's second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
