Zpravodajství v angličtině

Brno - The EU reform Lisbon treaty is in compliance with the Czech constitutional order and its ratification can be completed, the Constitutional Court (US) ruled today.

The Czech Republic is the last EU country not to have ratified the treaty as President Vaclav Klaus has not signed it yet.

The Constitutional Court examined the Lisbon treaty on the basis of a complaint by a group of senators.

The court today also rejected the related proposals for the assessment of the Maastricht and Rome treaties as well as the Irish opts-out.

US chairman Pavel Rychetsky is reading the court's justification.

The court's decision that the Lisbon treaty was in line with the constitution was Klaus's last condition for signing the document.

Klaus previously pushed through an opt-out fro Czechs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, part of the Lisbon treaty, at the EU summit in fears that that the Charter might enable German deportees to claim their former property on Czech soil, confiscated from them on the basis of the post-war Benes decrees.

However, the Czech opt-out has been criticised by the Social Democrats (CSSD) and trade unions, saying it would harm the protection of citizens' rights and freedoms. The government dismissed these worries.

The senators, mainly from the Civic Democrats (ODS), asked the US to examine the treaty for the second time.

The new complaint was aimed at the whole treaty, while last autumn the Constitutional Court, on the basis of the first complaint, was to examine only its most controversial parts. I concluded that they were not at variance with the constitutional order.

Most experts expected the same decision today.

The senators now plan to challenge the US proceedings on the Lisbon treaty.

The complainants' representative, senator Jiri Oberfalzer (ODS), announced previously that they might turn to European courts.

Oberfalzer with lawyer Jaroslav Kuba listened to the court's ruling today.

The government was represented by Minister for European Affairs Stefan Fuele. The proceedings were also attended by the chairmen of the lower and upper houses of parliament, Miloslav Vlcek (CSSD) and Premysl Sobotka (ODS).

Lawyer Ales Pejchal, accompanied by Presidential Office head Jiri Weigl, represented the president.

Supporters and critics of the Lisbon treaty met outside the court building today. The police expelled some ten supporters of the Party of Free Citizens and three representatives of the ultra-right National Party, opposing "Lisbon," from the court room.

The Lisbon treaty to reform the EU institutions must be ratified in all 27 EU countries to come into force.