Prague - The Czech Republic's Constitutional Court Tuesday opened a public hearing after which it may rule on whether the European Union's reform treaty is consistent with the country's constitution. The Czech Republic is the last of the 27 EU members that has yet to vote on the treaty, which has been stalled since Irish voters rejected it in a June referendum. Ireland was the only member state to put the treaty to a public vote.
The long-awaited Czech ruling will either open the way for a vote on the accord in country's bicameral parliament or bring it closer to its death.
The 15-member court based in the Czech city of Brno is to hear arguments of the parties to the case, including Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a fierce opponent of the Lisbon Treaty designed to simplify decision-making in the union.
Klaus, who sees the treaty as an infringement on the country's sovereignty, has called it a resurrection of the failed European Constitution, rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005.
The treaty was put under the court's review by Klaus-leaning eurosceptic lawmakers for the senior ruling Civic Democratic Party of Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.
But Topolanek, who signed the treaty on behalf of the Czech Republic in December 2007, has spoken in favour of the pact. He called the treaty a condition for EU membership which protects the former Soviet satellite in central Europe from Russia.
"The real choice is Lisbon or Moscow," Topolanek wrote in a recent opinion piece for the Mlada Fronta Dnes daily.
The premier expressed hopes the country's parliament ratifies the pact before the Czech Republic assumes the rotating six-month EU presidency on January 1.
He said he would prefer to amend the constitution if the court finds the two documents at odds.
The court usually rules on the day of the public hearing but may delay the verdict for the complexity of the case, court spokesman Michal Spacil said.
