Brussels, 06/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 6 May, the Czech Senate approved the Lisbon Treaty, with 54 of the 79 senators present voting in favour. The House of Representatives had already voted in favour of the text in February. Ratification of the new treaty of the Union by the Czech Republic will be complete once President Vaclav Klaus has signed the ratification law (which he is not likely to do until after the new Irish referendum to be held in September or October). There is nonetheless still a slight doubt about the Czech ratification as a small group of eurosceptic senators belonging to the ODS party (Liberal party under Mirek Topolanek, who resigned from his post as prime minster) is said to be intending to challenge the treaty once more before the constitutional court. Further referral to the constitutional court would no doubt delay the procedure as Presidency Klaus has already made it known that he will at any rate wait for the verdict of the judges before signing the ratification law. On Wednesday, before the Senate's vote, the former foreign minister (resignee) and outgoing EU Council president, Karel Schwarzenberg, had urged senators to “deliver a clear signal to say that we are a European country, a country that wants to develop”.
José Manuel Barroso, said he was “very content” with the vote in Prague. “This is very good news. I am very happy at the approval today of the Treaty of Lisbon by the Czech Senate, which completes the parliamentary process of ratification in the Czech Republic”, he states in a press release. According to the Commission president, the vote “reflects the Czech Republic's commitment to a more democratic, accountable, effective and coherent EU”. He also said he hoped the remaining stages of ratification in the countries of the EU would be “completed as quickly as possible”. In addition to the Czech Republic and Ireland, two other countries have still to complete their ratification process. These are: Germany where President Horst Köhler awaits the verdict of the constitutional court before signing the ratification law, and Poland where President Lech Kaczynski also wants to wait for the outcome of the Irish referendum before signing. (H.B./transl.jl)