Chamber approves mandate preventing government from transferring powers to EU without consent of parliament

The Chamber of Deputies has approved a special mandate preventing the government from transferring national powers to the European Union without the consent of the Czech Parliament. Senators from the right-of-centre Civic Democrats say they will only vote to ratify the EU’s Lisbon treaty if such a guarantee is in place. The matter will now go before the Senate, though it is unclear whether a vote on the mandate would take place at the same time as the actual vote on Lisbon.