TREATY NEGOTIATIONS:EU LEADERS have agreed to offer the Czech Republic an opt-out from a key part of the Lisbon Treaty to remove one of the final obstacles to it entering into force.
Negotiations over the precise wording of the opt-out were concluded over dinner last night, prompting a spontaneous round of cheers and applause from EU heads of state.
Eurosceptic Czech president Vaclav Klaus had demanded the opt-out from the charter of fundamental rights as a condition before he agreed to sign the treaty. He had raised concerns that the charter could be invoked by ethnic Germans who were expelled from Czechoslovakia after the second World War to claim property rights. He wants the Czech Republic to join an existing opt-out granted to Britain and Poland during the initial negotiation of the Lisbon Treaty more than two years ago. Austria, Germany and Hungary, who all had citizens expelled from Czechoslovakia, initially raised concerns about the opt-out but a deal was agreed earlier than expected.
The deal at the summit removes one of the last remaining obstacles to ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, which has already been approved by 26 of the 27 EU states. On Tuesday the Czech constitutional court is expected to issue a ruling on whether the treaty is compatible with the Czech constitution. If it rules that it is, Mr Klaus is expected to sign the treaty enabling it to enter into force by January 2010.
At the summit EU leaders held their first lengthy discussion on the new posts created by the treaty – president of the European Council and a new beefed-up EU foreign affairs chief – aimed at boosting the EU’s global role.
EU leaders are deeply divided over the role and profile that should be enjoyed by the first president of the European Council. London is arguing passionately that the position should carry real clout and be filled by someone with global stature, preferably former prime minister Tony Blair.
“We, the British government, believe that Tony Blair would be an excellent candidate and an excellent person to hold the job of president of the council,” said British prime minister Gordon Brown at the summit.
But Mr Blair faces growing opposition from several EU states and the Party of European Socialists, which is lobbying for a Socialist candidate to take the post of EU foreign affairs chief rather than the council presidency.
Spanish prime minister José Louis Rodríguez Zapatero told journalists after a pre-summit meeting, also attended by Mr Brown, that: “We socialists aspire to the post of high representative not the council presidency”.
Luxembourg’s foreign minister Jean Asselborn said there would always be a link between George Bush, Iraq and Mr Blair. “Personally, we have to be honest that he is not the best candidate. We have to try and find a personality that represents all European politics and that represents something new for the future of Europe,” he said. Luxembourg’s prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker has declared his own interest in the job.
European Parliament president Jerzy Buzek said there was a need to promote women to one of the top EU jobs. “It should be considered that a woman could and should occupy this position. Appointing a woman would send a positive signal,” said Mr Buzek.
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, who is chairing the summit because his country holds the rotating EU presidency, said this was not a jobs summit, and its focus would be on climate change and the Lisbon Treaty. Stockholm plans to hold another summit in November to decide the appointments to the EU posts provided Mr Klaus agrees to sign the treaty.