Problems with ratification of the Lisbon Treaty have emerged in the UK and the Czech Republic.
The European Union today acknowledged the Czech Republic had a problem, noting it “cannot complete the ratification process until the constitutional court delivers its positive opinion on the accordance of the Lisbon Treaty. "
In a final statement from the two-day European Council summit in Brussels, the leaders agreed to say in a footnote that 19 of the 27 countries had ratified the text and the ratification process continued in other states.
Leaders agreed to review the way forward at their next summit in October following Ireland’s rejection of the treaty. All 27 member states must ratify for it to take effect, but Ireland rejected it in a referendum last week.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who takes on the bloc's rotating presidency from July 1st, said he would visit Ireland for talks next month with the aim of coming up with a way forward at the next EU summit in October.
"The idea would be ... for our Irish friends to report to the European Council in October on the evolution of the situation to set a definitive strategy," Mr Sarkozy told a news conference after the 27 leaders discussed the setback.
He also insisted that without the Lisbon Treaty, meant to overhaul the EU's institutions, there could be no further enlargement of the Union - a view contradicted by Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who chaired the summit.
After Britain raised EU spirits by ratifying the text in parliament on Wednesday, most of the other eight countries still to endorse it vowed to go ahead.
But a British High Court judge called on its government today to delay formal ratification of the treaty until he has ruled on a legal bid to force a referendum.
The UK ratification process is not formalised until a series of documents are signed and what is known as an instrument of ratification is deposited in Rome.
The High Court is reviewing whether it is legal to ratify the treaty without a referendum in a case brought by eurosceptic millionaire and opposition Conservative Party donor Stuart Wheeler.
The Czechs had sought to prevent any call for continued ratification after the June 12th Irish referendum defeat.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said a compromise was found after breakfast talks between the German, Czech and Slovenian leaders.
Eurosceptical Czech President Vaclav Klaus declared the treaty "dead" after the Irish vote and the Czech Senate has referred the text to the constitutional court for a ruling not expected before October.
"We are a democracy - even the head of state is allowed his own opinion," Mr Schwarzenberg joked. The independent pro-EU minister said he still thought his country would endorse the text by year-end.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek - seen as less keen on the treaty - said on last night: "If the vote was today, I would not bet 100 crowns on the outcome."
A European Commission official said: "It looks bad if we can't even agree to call for ratification to continue. It looks like contagion."