IN AN important vote the lower house of the Czech parliament approved the Lisbon Treaty this week, reflecting the political majority underlying the country’s current presidency of the European Union. But the remaining obstacles facing its ratification there were highlighted yesterday by President Vaclav Klaus, who told the European Parliament it lacks authenticity and thereby encourages an alienation of EU citizens which the treaty will accentuate by strengthening it. He dismisses the already well-established role the parliament plays in the EU’s governing system, which links national and European levels of politics, and disregards its existing political cleavages.
Mr Klaus enjoys provoking publicity and has a real talent for it, but his Eurosceptic views do not express the Czech Republic’s official position. His is largely a ceremonial role, but he must sign the national legislation ratifying Lisbon and has said he will not do so before Ireland does. In the meantime he is an active player in his country’s politics on the matter. The senate will now consider the treaty. Its deliberations are complicated by the desire of right-wing members from the major ruling Civic Democrat party to link that with ratification of the radar missile treaty with the United States. But President Barack Obama may not proceed with that plan, inherited from the Bush administration.
Thus, aside from Ireland’s decision, Lisbon’s slow progress towards ratification in the Czech parliament mirrors the outstanding decision awaited from Germany’s constitutional court in coming months after hearing an appeal arguing that it violates national sovereignty. The Czech government is overseeing negotiations with Ireland on guarantees about the treaty, which is one of the most tricky political issues it faces. The coalition of Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and Greens is supported in parliament by the Social Democrats during the EU presidency, unless their agreement lapses through political scheming by Mr Klaus and others.
This makes for a cautious approach to managing the presidency, which probably expresses the Czechs’ overall attitude to European integration. Its political leaders are finding it invigorating to have their efforts recognised and valued externally, allowing them to portray their EU role more positively than has normally been the case. Despite some initial uncertainty over Russian gas and the Gaza war, they are handling it capably. A lot will depend on how effective the two forthcoming summits on the economic crisis prove to be.