EU eyes turn to Klaus
After Ireland’s resounding “yes” vote today, only one man now stands in the way of the Lisbon Treaty coming into force, with its promise of a more efficient , user-friendly European Union.
All eyes now turn to the Czech Republic’s deeply eurosceptic president Vaclav Klaus, who is refusing to sign, even though his own parliament has already endorsed the document.
Mr Klaus has seized on a last-minute legal challenge by a group of Czech senators and says he can do nothing until the Czech constitutional court has ruled on the senators’ objections to the treaty.
That could take months, delaying introduction of a treaty due in force at the start of next year, ushering in two top new posts of President of Europe and foreign secretary.
Publicly nothing can be done about filling those jobs until and unless the Czech president puts pen to paper and delivers the last formal act bringing the treaty into being.
If Mr Klaus chooses to keep the rest of Europe waiting long enough, Tory leader David Cameron has signalled he will call a UK referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if elected as Prime Minister in the UK general election next year.
Tonight in Brussels, amid celebrations among eurocrats and EU supporters to mark the Irish result, there was concern that the fickle Czech could yet spin out the Lisbon treaty agony still further.
The only other obstacle still in the Treaty’s path – a signature from Polish President Lech Kaczynski – is expected to melt away quickly, because Mr Kaczynski has promised he would sign up once Ireland has said “yes”.
The likelihood is that Mr Klaus, unable credibly to hold out much longer despite his personal animosity towards the EU, will also put pen to paper once the constitutional court has formally considered the senators’ objections.
That could be within a month, triggering a frantic spell in Brussels as arrangements are made for the treaty to be brought in on time.
Until Mr Klaus signs up and secures the treaty, no senior officials dare talk publicly about nominees for the president and foreign secretary jobs which technically do not exist until there is full Lisbon treaty approval in all member states.
This afternoon, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso – who thanked the Irish people for their “vote of confidence” in the EU – refused to entertain questions about Tony Blair as a candidate for the president position.
Bizarrely, the post has no job description, and politicians say the role will be shaped by the person who holds the office.
That would be a novel concept to the thousands of students pouring into EU Commission headquarters in Brussels this afternoon for a Jobs Open Day.
Across the road at Kitty O’Shea’s Irish pub, the “yes” camp was in full party mood. But once it was clear the “yes” vote was secure, the bar management switched off the live feed of Irish television referendum coverage and went back to the football.
In Commission headquarters, Mr Barroso was still thinking about the last Lisbon Treaty hurdle.
He pointed out that the Czech parliament has already approved the treaty, and that Mr Klaus is appointed by that parliament.
It would be strange, he suggested, if the president went against his parliament, adding: “I think in the end President Klaus will sign the treaty.”
