Czech president's new treaty snag

[dipsydoodle]

Source: BBC News

The Eurosceptic Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, wants a new two-sentence footnote to be added to the EU's Lisbon Treaty before signing it, Sweden says.

The new condition came up during a phone conversation between Mr Klaus and Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt, current holder of the EU presidency.

Mr Reinfeldt said the requested footnote was linked to the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.

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The Czech president told him he would sign Lisbon if he got the extra footnote and if the Czech Constitutional Court rejected the senators' legal challenge, Mr Reinfeldt said.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8297757.stm

[Astrad]

1. Thanks for posting

The fact that treaty looks like its finally going to be ratified is quite amazing. Too bad it's not getting more play here. Whether for it or against it, it is a big deal. There's going to be a real European President (as opposed to rotating heads of states). That alone could be very significant to international relations.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. A somewhat limited presidency

Two and a half year term with a possibility of being reappointed, and limited powers.

But I agree that to the outside world it will look significant. And no doubt every EU president (as everyone will call him, despite his official title being President of the European Commission(?)) will spend his term trying to increase his powers and visibility.

[JDPriestly]

2. Article fails to say what the two-line footnote is about. It is so poorly written

and uninformative as to be useless. If you haven't checked the link, don't bother.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. That's because Klaus hasn't said what footnote he wants yet

He appears to just be doing this to fuck with the process.

Here's AFP reporting it:

Klaus "wishes to add a footnote with two sentences. As far as I understand it, he's linking this to the (EU's) Charter of Fundamental Rights and then he wants the European Council to take a decision on this footnote," Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU presidency, told reporters.
...
According to Reinfeldt, Klaus' demand could resemble exemptions, or "opt-outs", granted to Poland and Britain in 2007 on the Charter of Fundamental Rights in their negotiations on the Lisbon treaty.
...
"I remember we had lengthy discussions about this Charter of Fundamental Rights, because we had special conditions for Poland and for Britain," Reinfeldt said.

"I think that it's what he's (Klaus is) referring too," he added.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hwI51AyvkYvGenkfqB_Psy1qB6zw

Klaus is throwing a temper tantrum, basically. He won't say what he wants, he just wants something changed.

[Dr.Phool]

4. Bounced Czech?

[WriteDown]

6. Dammit all...

I was really hoping that the Czech Republic would never go on the Euro. When I'm over there, I can get a filet mignon dinner for 11$ and beer is 50 cents a pint. One of the coldest places that I travel to in the winter though.

[jakeXT]

7. just say no

[Igel]

8. The quote in iDnes puts things in a slightly different order.

http://zpravy.idnes.cz/klaus-oddaluje-podpis-lisabonu-chce-ve-smlouve-poznamku-o-charte-prav-eu-1o9-/domaci.asp?c=A091008_174614_domaci_adb

"Potřebujeme objasnění toho, co vlastně (Klaus) žádá. Řekl ale, že musíme počkat na dokončení posuzování soudem, potom že to objasní. (Klaus) ale žádá dodatečná opatření, proto by to měl objasnit, což jsem mu řekl," dodal švédský premiér."

"We demand a clarification of what precisely he wants. He did say that we have to wait until the conclusion of the court's deliberations and that he'll explain then. He wants additional attention, so he should have explained. That's what I told him," added the Swedish prime minister.

I think opatření means attention. Perhaps "consideration".

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. It turns out he wants a clause about property rights of Germans chucked out after WW2

President Vaclav Klaus revealed his objection to the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty on Friday: a provision on property rights.

Mr. Klaus said he feared that the provision, part of the treaty’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, could be used as a legal basis for a flood of property claims related to the expulsion of three million Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II.

He demanded a special exemption from the Charter for the Czech Republic, a gambit that could plunge the bloc into turmoil by unhinging the treaty’s delicate ratification process at the last minute. But some Czech observers said Mr. Klaus’s move was a face-saving maneuver aimed at clearing the way for him to sign a treaty he has long ridiculed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/10/world/europe/10union.html