End game

The head of the European Union's executive pounced on Tuesday's ruling by the Czech Republic's highest court, which dismissed the challenge to the Lisbon Treaty.

"I believe that no further unnecessary delays should prevent the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement.

The Czech Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty was "not at odds" with the country's constitution.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle called the outcome "a good day for Europe."

"Europe needs the Lisbon Treaty in order finally to gain bargaining power," Westerwelle said on his first trip to Belgium and Luxembourg since taking office.

Opponents' last stand

The court-challenge was the last legal hurdle preventing the document's ratification. It was submitted by a group of senators allied to the Czech Republic's euroskeptic President Vaclav Klaus. They had argued the treaty would violate Czech sovereignty.

Klaus had also argued that the treaty could provide an opening for claims on the country's territory by families of ethnic Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia at the end of the Second World War.

EU leaders managed to placate Klaus on this score last week, when they granted his country the right to opt out of the disputed Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer, whose government has already passed the treaty in parliament, said he expected Klaus to sign the treaty now that the "last hurdle has been cleared."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also weighed in on the ruling, saying he hoped the EU could finally "set aside years of constitutional and institutional debate."

Meanwhile, in another blow for opponents of the treaty, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Tuesday that the country's Conservative opposition leader David Cameron intended to renege on a promise to hold a referendum on the treaty.

The reform proposals are unpopular in Britain, and it is widely believed that they would be rejected if put to a referendum there.

Opponents of the treaty have pinned their hopes on a referendum defeat, as the treaty can only be implemented if supported by all 27 EU members.

Efficiency gain or power grab?

The Czech Republic is the only member of the European Union not to have ratified the treaty.

The reform package is designed to streamline decision-making across the EU. It also foresees creating two new powerful posts to give the bloc more bargaining power on the world stage: an EU president and an EU foreign minister.

Until now, the European Union's presidency has passed every six months to a different member state.

However, critics of the reforms, such as Klaus, have expressed concerns that they will turn the EU into a super-state that is far less democratic.

The precursor the Lisbon Treaty – the EU constitution – was defeated in separate referendums in France and the Netherlands, effectively ensuring its demise.

If all now goes to plan, the Lisbon reforms, named after the Portuguese capital where they were agreed upon, will come into effect on December 1, 2009.

nw/AP/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Nancy Isenson