Main focus of Thursday, May 7, 2009

Czechs vote in favour of EU treaty

The Czech Senate voted in favour of the EU Treaty of Lisbon with a clear majority on Wednesday, signalling a breakthrough in the reform of the European Union. The Irish referendum planned for next autumn is seen as the last major hurdle.

Der Standard - Austria

Despite its positive impulse Prague's Yes to the Treaty of Lisbon it is still not a victory for the EU, writes Der Standard newspaper: "The German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe should rule on whether the Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the German Basic Law even before the European Elections at the beginning of June. Meanwhile in Poland President Lech Kaczyński's signature is still pending. And lastly there is still to be a second referendum in Ireland which will also have direct consequences for the UK. If the ratification process drags on, the Tories could win the election slated for spring of 2010 at the latest and - as they have already announced - once more call the British ratification into question. For this reason the dynamic from Prague must now be put to good use. Only when Lisbon is done and dusted will Europe have gained an undeniable advantage that its critics on the Left and the Right will not be able to gainsay." (07/05/2009)

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Delo - Slovenia

The daily Delo sees the vote for the Treaty of Lisbon as a defeat for Czech President Vaclav Klaus. "The Czech Republic … will not be the country that buries the treaty. President Klaus can still hope that Germany's Federal Constitution Court or another negative referendum in Ireland will put an end to it, and the Czech constitutional judges will perhaps comply with the demands of the dissatisfied eurosceptics and examine those parts of the Lisbon Treaty they have not yet scrutinised. But if they didn't have any objections the first time round they're unlikely to have any this time. In the struggle between the two leading politicians of the conservative Civic Democratic Party [ODS] who went their different ways because of the European issue among other questions the score is now 1:1 - Topolanek is no longer in office because of Klaus but even so Klaus has failed to reach his goal." (07/05/2009)

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Mladá fronta Dnes - Czech Republic

Even though the Treaty of Lisbon poses not the slightest threat to the Czech Republic the fight over it rages on, writes the liberal daily Mladá fronta Dnes: "Senators of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) will appeal to the Constitutional Court and President Václav Klaus is already planning his counter-attack. Fears of the alleged dictates from Lisbon may split the ODS and influence the outcome of the October elections. However true these facts may be, they remain local issues. The crucial consideration is that Lisbon will do no harm to the Czech Republic. On the contrary: thanks to the treaty's approval our country remains in the mainstream of European politics and has confirmed its renewed adherence to Western civilisation." (07/05/2009)

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Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

Now that the Czechs have approved the EU Reform Treaty the onus lies on Ireland, writes the Süddeutsche Zeitung: "All the other countries have given their political approval to the treaty, meaning that Ireland is faced with a difficult decision. ... The other member states of the EU must now not only make promises to the Irish, but also force them to chart out a roadmap. The EU cannot wait until Judgement Day. The way things stand the treaty must be accepted and deposited by the end of October, because that is the end of the Commission's mandate, and for complex political and contractual reasons the new Commission must be convened according to the new treaty. So the Irish must hold a new referendum by mid-October at the very latest. If not the reform will be postponed again, for at least another five years. And that could be the end of it." (07/05/2009)

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