Lidové noviny: Czech opt-out from Lisbon under threat

The Czech opt-out from the EU’s Lisbon treaty, demanded by President Klaus in return for the document’s ratification, is under threat, the daily Lidové noviny reported on Saturday. The opt-out is supposed to be ratified as part of the EU’s accession treaty with Croatia. The paper said however that the EU is now considering excluding it from the accession treaty, and start its ratification process independently. In such case, the Czech opt-out would most likely be rejected by a number of EU member states.

Václav Klaus refused last year to finalize the Lisbon treaty’s ratification process unless an opt-out form the Charter of Fundamental Rights is granted to the Czech Republic. The opt-out should shield the country from possible restitution demands by ethnic Germans who were expelled from Czechoslovakia after the end of the Second World War.