Hydrablog

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/world/europe/04europe.html
November 4, 2009
European Union Treaty Clears Its Final Hurdle
By DAN BILEFSKY and STEPHEN CASTLE [Europe] [EU] [European governance] [Lisbon Treaty?] [use psci350] [create executive for foreign policy?] [followup] [*]
PRAGUE — The landmark treaty that would raise the profile of the European Union and streamline decision-making among its member states cleared its last major obstacle on Tuesday, all but ensuring that it will become law.
The Czech president, Vaclav Klaus, signed the document hours after the country’s Constitutional Court ruled that the Lisbon Treaty was compatible with the Czech Constitution.
Mr. Klaus, a vociferous critic of the treaty and of the European Union in general, had been the last holdout on treaty, which had to be ratified by all 27 member states to come into effect. He had insisted that he could not endorse the treaty until the court delivered its verdict.
His statement that he had signed the document was brief.
“I had expected the court ruling and I respect it, although I fundamentally disagree with its content and justification,” Mr. Klaus told reporters in Prague, according to Reuters. The treaty’s supporters argue the treaty will raise the bloc’s stature on the international stage, but its detractors counter that it will centralize power in Brussels and create a European superstate. [**]
José Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, forecast Mr. Klaus’s signing after the Czech court ruling.
“Together with the commitments given by all member states to the Czech government at the European Council last week,” he said in a statement, “I believe that no further unnecessary delays should prevent the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty.”
Analysts had been uncertain to the last whether Mr. Klaus was ready to sign. Last week, European leaders agreed to his last-minute demand to opt out from the treaty’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, which he had argued could lead to a flood of property claims by Germans expelled from the country after World War II. Mr. Klaus welcomed the agreement and indicated he would not make further demands. [*]
On Wednesday, he will travel to the United States for a four-day trip during which he will meet Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and deliver a speech on climate change.
The Constitutional Court was asked to rule by a group of 17 senators loyal to Mr. Klaus on whether the treaty violated the Czech Republic’s Constitution. The court dismissed a similar complaint last year.
Because of the Czech delays, European leaders were unable to decide at a summit meeting in Brussels last week on whom to appoint as president and foreign affairs chief, new posts established by the treaty. [and lots of grumbling about smaller nation-state members who were said to “shanghai” the union, etc] [*]
Those decisions have been delayed until a special summit meeting, which will be called sometime this month.
Unofficial discussions, which took place last week’s meeting, indicated that the prospect of the presidential job going to Tony Blair, the former British prime minister, had faded. [*]
Several lower-profile figures, including the prime ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands, Herman Van Rompuy and Jan Peter Balkenende, and the former Austrian prime minister, Wolfgang Schüssel, appeared more likely as contenders. [*]
For the foreign policy post, most officials now expect a candidate from the center-left, with the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, and the former Italian prime minister, Massimo D’Alema, considered to be front-runners.
A French candidate could also emerge, and Prime Minister François Fillon has been mentioned as a possible president.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company