LISBON TREATY : OBSTACLES GALORE.

The Czech Republic is the only member state, other than Ireland, which said no' in the referendum on 12 June, not to have ratified the Lisbon Treaty. The vote in parliament could take place around February or March this year. But nothing is certain either about the date or the result of the ballot. President Vaclav Klaus, moreover, has announced that he would not sign the bill as long as the Irish problem remains unresolved.

On 13 December 2007, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek signed the Lisbon Treaty, like his other 26 partners. He then committed himself to completing the ratification. After the Irish no', Klaus announced that the text was "dead and buried". Despite everything, Topolanek continued to promise that the treaty would be ratified in the Czech Republic before the end of 2008.

It was a vain promise as, on 7 December, during the congress of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in Prague, Topolanek announced that he would link the fate of the Lisbon Treaty with that on the agreement on the deployment of an American anti-missile radar on Czech territory (see interviews). The opposition Social Democrats are strongly opposed to this proposal, but are in favour of the Lisbon Treaty.

During an extraordinary meeting of the lower house, on 9 December, the ODS, therefore, asked for the debate on the treaty to be postponed to February, while waiting for the vote on the radar. As a result, the ratification is once again at a standstill in the assembly, just shortly after the Constitutional Court handed down its positive verdict on the text's compliance with the national...

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