The Guardian: top EU leaders incensed over Tory leader’s letter to Czech president

The British newspaper The Guardian has reported that European leaders including Germany’s Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy were “incensed” over a letter the head of the British Conservative Party David Cameron sent to Czech President Václav Klaus. The move, taken in September, was seen as a clear attempt to delay and help scupper the EU’s Lisbon treaty. The criticism by the EU leaders, the daily reported, came to a head at the EU summit in Brussels.

The Czech President Václav Klaus said on Friday he would raise no further conditions for the treaty’s ratification, after the EU granted the Czech Republic an opt-out on the treaty’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. The move means Mr Klaus could sign after the Czech Constitutional Court issues a ruling on a final complaint next week. The British Conservative Party itself is now moving away from earlier plans to hold a referendum on the Lisbon treaty, The Guardian reported. The Czech Republic is the only country remaining to ratify the document, which reforms the running of the 27-member bloc.