Prague/Brussels - The Czech Republic's failure to promptly ratify the European Union's Lisbon Treaty could cost the country dearly, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned Tuesday. "It is in the interest of nobody, and certainly not in the interest of the Czech Republic, to have more delays and to have the EU blocked and unable to function properly," Barroso said after talks with Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer.
The meeting in Brussels came after Czech President Vaclav Klaus asked for his country to be exempted from the treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights as a condition for signing the text, which has already been ratified by parliament.
The Czech Republic is the only EU member state that has not yet completed the ratification process.
Klaus, a vocal eurosceptic, says he is concerned that the charter could allow German nationals expelled from Czech territory after World War II to reclaim their former properties.
Both the Czech government and officials in Brussels view this as an unwarranted concern, since the charter cannot be applied retroactively.
"We are a community of values, of good faith and of loyal cooperation between all of us. And we have to behave towards each other respecting this fundamental principle," Barroso said.
A possible solution suggested by Fischer on Tuesday was for the EU's October 29-30 summit to agree on a non-binding "political declaration" aimed at allaying Klaus' concerns. Such a declaration would then be formalized in a protocol at a later stage, Fischer said.
"What is not acceptable is the re-opening of negotiations" on the treaty's content, said Barroso, who called such an option "absurd" and "surreal."
Adding to the difficulties is a legal challenge brought against the treaty by 17 senators close to President Klaus.
The country's Constitutional Court said Tuesday it would hold its first hearing on the issue on October 27, but whether a verdict would be reached ahead of the EU summit later that week remained unclear.
"Provided that the Constitutional Court comes to the conclusion that there is no incompatibility between Lisbon and the Czech Republic's constitution, there are no reasons for the Czech Republic not to honour its commitments," Barroso said.
The commission president noted that Klaus had been elected by parliament, and should therefore respect its decision to approve the treaty.
And in a thinly disguised threat, Barroso also warned that the Czech Republic could lose its right to appoint a commissioner unless Lisbon comes into force, since the existing Nice Treaty does away with the one-country-one-commissioner rule.
"The only way for the Czech Republic, or any country, to be sure it has a commissioner is to have the Lisbon Treaty," Barroso said.
"This is not specifically for the Czech Republic, but it certainly applies to the Czech Republic," Barroso said.
Commission officials later stressed that Barroso had used similar words when addressing Ireland ahead of its second referendum on the treaty. Irish voters rejected the text in 2008 but approved it in a new vote held earlier this month.
The present commission's mandate expires at the end of this month, and EU officials are keen for Lisbon to come into force, so as to allow EU leaders to appoint the next Brussels executive under the new rules.
The Lisbon Treaty seeks to streamline its decision-making and to boost the bloc's international stance through the appointment of a permanent Council President and a beefed-up foreign policy chief, with his or her own diplomatic corps.
