Prague - Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed the European Union's Lisbon Treaty Tuesday, allowing the 27-member bloc to move forward with the reform of its institutions after weeks of uncertainty. At the same time, Klaus harshly criticized a court decision that made his signature possible.
The treaty, aimed at turning the EU into an influential global player, is now expected to enter into force as of December 1.
Klaus announced his ratification of the pact hours after the Czech Republic's Constitutional Court cleared the way for his signature.
Klaus harshly criticized the court's decision at a press briefing.
"The Constitutional Court's ruling is not a neutral legal analysis but a biased political defence of the Lisbon Treaty on the part of its supporters," Klaus said.
The court ruled unanimously that the treaty does not clash with the Czech constitution and does not pose a risk to the country's sovereignty.
Klaus claimed that the Czech Republic "will cease to be a sovereign state" once the treaty enters into force.
The president said, however, that he expected and respected the verdict.
Prime Minister Jan Fischer also penned his signature on the treaty, meaning the Czech Republic has completed the ratification process, spokesman Roman Prorok told the German Press Agency dpa.
Ratification of the pact allows EU leaders to select a president for the bloc. The post is to replace the EU's six-month rotating presidency.
Sweden, which currently chairs the bloc, was expected to summon an extraordinary summit to pick the new top official. The move also unblocked talks on a new European Commission, the EU's executive.
The EU wants the new institutions in place as early as possible.
Klaus, a treaty opponent, had been dragging out his ratification of the pact since the bicameral Czech parliament approved it in May.
He posed two conditions for his signature - the court's clearance and an opt-out for the Czech Republic from a part of the reform accord, the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights. EU leaders agreed last week to the op-out.
He has argued that his country needed the exemption in order to prevent property claims by ethnic Germans expelled from former Czechoslovakia after World War II.
In an effort to make the EU more effective, the Lisbon Treaty introduces a post of a de-facto foreign minister and strips the bloc's members of veto rights in a number of areas.
The pact replaced a failed EU constitution, which was rejected by Dutch and French voters in 2005.
