by Chris McLaughlin
Tory leader David Cameron’s attempt at a backdoor deal with Czech president Vaclav Klaus to scupper the Lisbon treaty appeared to be having some success this week.
Following soothing words to European Commission officials from the country’s prime minister Jan Fischer last week, Mr Klaus threw a surprise spanner in the works by demanding amendments to the treaty before he will sign it – the only remaining hurdle to ratification by the European Union’s 27 member states.
The unforeseen move infuriated other member states and Brussels officials, who had been assured by Mr Fischer that he was “confident” Mr Klaus would sign the document in time for it to be implemented by the end of the year.
Now discussion of some of the main planks of the treaty – such as the appointment of an EU president, a post Tony Blair has been tipped for – has had to be postponed until December.
A scheduled summit meeting of EU leaders at the end of this month will instead now devote its time to finding a form of words to placate Mr Klaus.
But the president, a champion of Czech Euro-sceptics who liken the EU to the communist past, is seen as a maverick liable to spring more surprises to stall ratification until the British general election in the hope of a Conservative victory.
Mr Cameron has indicated that he would, if Prime Minister, give the go-ahead for a referendum if the treaty is not signed by the time the Tories took power. He recently sent a handwritten note to Mr Klaus with a message that if the president “can hold out for a few months”, he would be “right there with him”.
Mr Fischer, who was back in Brussels last Wednesday (October 14) for talks with European president Jose Manual Barroso is pleading, with the EU to concede a form of words to satisfy his president if a signature is to be forthcoming.
Mr Klaus is demanding an opt-out, similar to that gained by Britain and Poland, from the charter’s treaty of fundamental rights.
German and French diplomats have reportedly urged their Czech counterparts to change the Czech constitution or impeach Mr Klaus for blocking his country’s democratic process.
