Brussels, 09/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - There has been a new development in the matter of Czech ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. President Vaclav Klaus will make his ratification signature dependent not only on the verdict of the Czech constitutional court (which is currently examining how compatible the new treaty is with the Czech constitution) but also on the Czech Republic being given an “opt-out” from application of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. This at any rate was what Mr Klaus explained to the president-in-office of the European Council, Fredrik Reinfeldt, during a phone conversation on Thursday. According to Mr Reinfeldt, the Czech president was not very specific in his request but he expressed “a wish to add new text in the form of a footnote consisting of two sentences. This text would then be adopted by the European Council”. “As far as I can understand, the footnote involves the charter of rights connected to the treaty”, he said. The charter is an integral part of the Lisbon Treaty and therefore has binding value. “But the president was not clear on this point, so he must specify this himself”, Mr Reinfeldt said, immediately criticising Mr Klaus' manoeuvring. “I told the president that this was the wrong message at the wrong time”. Throughout the long process for negotiating the treaty, “there have been many opportunities and plenty of time to put forward different views. I know I speak for many of my colleagues when I express this view”, Mr Reinfeldt said. It is in fact inconceivable that the 26 should agree to reopen the treaty that is already ratified in all the other member states, including by the Czech parliament. José Manuel Barroso also expressed incredulousness. Such a new requirement could indicate that Mr Klaus already expects the constitutional court to give its endorsement to ratification, the Commission president told a small number of journalists on the sidelines of the conference on Friday, in Brussels. The Czech government, also, was taken quite by surprise. Prime Minister Jan Fischer, who trusts the treaty will soon take effect, confirmed on Friday that he was unaware of the head of state's new request.
On Friday 9 October, President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek was in Prague where he also talked with Mr Klaus. Addressing the press, Buzek confirmed that the Czech president is calling for his country to have “similar arrangements” to Protocol No7 obtained by Poland and the United Kingdom on application of the charter of fundamental rights before national jurisdictions. In practical terms, the opt-out stipulates that the charter cannot have the effect of extending the Court of Justice's right to declare certain national provisions incompatible with the charter. In addition, it is specified therein that the special provisions under Title IV of the charter will not confer any “right amenable to the courts” in Poland and the United Kingdom. Finally, the reference made in the charter to national practice and rights only apply to these two countries if national law and practice acknowledge the rights covered in this case by the charter. (H.B./transl.jl)