Chamber to discuss Lisbon Treaty for first time next week

The Chamber of Deputies is to hold its first discussion of the Treaty of Lisbon next week, the deputy chairman of the lower house’s foreign affairs committee told reporters. Also known as the Reform Treaty, the document amends the existing treaties of the European Union and replaces a failed EU constitution. However after the Czech lower house’s first reading of the treaty, the matter will be put on ice, possibly until after the summer. If all 27 members of the EU ratify the document, it should come into effect at the start of next year, during the Czech Republic’s presidency of the union.