President Klaus asks Constitutional Court to evaluate European Constitution

President Vaclav Klaus has asked the Czech Constitutional Court to evaluate whether the European Constitution complies with the Czech constitution. Mr Klaus on Wednesday wrote a letter to the Chairman of the Court, Pavel Rychetsky, asking whether the ratification of the EU constitution ought to be preceded by amendments to the Czech constitution.

President Klaus has been keen to warn Czech citizens of the implications of ratifying the European Constitution, saying it would limit the sovereignty of individual EU member states, especially smaller countries like the Czech Republic. The constitution has also been criticised by the centre-right opposition Civic Democrat and Communist parties.