EU commissioner calls Czech failure to ratify Lisbon treaty “incomprehensible”

The Czech Republic’s European commissioner Vladimír Špidla has said that Czech President Václav Klaus has ignored his constitutional duty regarding the signing of the Lisbon treaty. In an interview for the ČTK news agency on Friday, Mr Špidla suggested that the document should already have been signed, given it has been approved by both houses of Parliament. Mr Klaus, a well-known eurosceptic, has made no secret of his opposition to the treaty; he is now waiting now for a Constitutional court ruling - as well as for the outcome of the Irish referendum - before taking any next steps. In his interview for ČTK, the EU commissioner Vladimír Špidla called the country’s delay “incomprehensible”. He also said that a group of senators who came forward with a recent constitutional complaint appeared to be purposely postponing the ratification process. The Lisbon treaty has to be approved by all 27 EU states to come into effect.