Czech European Affairs minister on his President's Lisbon Signature

The following is from EurActiv who have interviewed Štefan Füle the Czech minister for European affairs, linked here. The minister had the following to say on the attitude of President Klaus towards the signing of the Lisbon Treaty, now ratified in the Czech Parliament but potentially subject to another challenge in the Constitutional Court.

The quote starts with the question put by EurActiv which appears in bold italic:

Would you welcome the completion of the Lisbon Treaty ratification process in the Czech Republic before the second referendum in Ireland takes place? Do you find such a scenario realistic?

I believe it is important that the parliamentary stage of the ratification was completed in May. I think that it was a relatively strong signal towards our partners, and a fulfillment of our pledge. I do not want to speculate about how the president will make use of his constitutional right. I am convinced however that he will make the right decision at the right time.

On the one hand, I am aware of the opinions at EU level, where our partners would welcome a faster completion of the ratification process. On the other hand, I as a citizen of the Czech Republic understand that there are questions about the Lisbon Treaty that remain to be answered. I therefore have an understanding of the president's actions.

In my opinion he is taking a relatively democratic approach to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. He wants to provide the senators with enough time to ask the Constitutional Court to examine the treaty [a group of senators expressed their interest in sending the treaty to Constitutional Court once again, this time with different questions to be answered; the senators signalled their intentions just after the 'yes' vote in the Senate last month].

But in my view, the previous decision of the Constitutional Court already creates a solid base for the argument that the Lisbon Treaty is not contrary to the Czech constitution. I'm convinced that the process will end in such a fashion that the Lisbon Treaty will be here sooner rather than later.

I have communicated my views that the British Conservative Party should request President Klaus to pledge to withhold his signature from the Lisbon Treaty until after the British General Election which must be held by next May. The absence of any reply from William Hague their Foreign Affairs spokesman and Deputy Party Leader, confirms for me the fact that the Tories claim to be against the Lisbon Treaty is typical duplicity.

Please bear this in mind when casting your vote a week from today, a vote for the Tories is a vote for the consolidation of fascism across the EU, see my post on Pluralism yesterday, six years ago and practically every day in between!