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Sarkozy addresses Lisbon Treaty

Czechs respond with 'wait and see' approach to French leader's plans

By Ondřej Bouda
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
June 18th, 2008 issue

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
French President Nicolas Sarkozy (left) met with Topolánek (right) June 16 to discuss the EU presidency.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s June 16 visit to Prague for the Visegrad 4 summit dealt primarily with the future of the Lisbon Treaty and highlighted the differing French and Czech perspectives on the issue.  
The path to European Union-wide ratification of the treaty had suffered a blow June 13 when Ireland voted against the pact in a public referendum. It will now fall to France, set to assume the EU presidency July 1, to manage the fallout.
The Czech Republic is one of eight EU countries that has not yet ratified the treaty, and, considering official reactions to the Irish vote, that status seems unlikely to change soon.  
“The Lisbon Treaty is dead and its ratification must be discontinued,” President Václav Klaus, still in the hospital following hip-replacement surgery, said in a June 13 statement. “The Irish referendum is a victory of freedom and reason over artificial elitist projects and European bureaucracy.”
During Sarkozy’s visit, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek echoed Klaus’ Euroskeptic position. He resisted pressure from Sarkozy to facilitate the ratification process, instead calling for a wait-and-see approach involving further discussion and negotiation.
“Don’t force me to make a decision. We have put the ratification process on hold and don’t need to decide right now,” he said during a press conference, adding that the only thing that is clear about the Lisbon Treaty is that it will not come into effect Jan. 1, as was planned.
“Meanwhile,” he said, “we need to give time to European politicians to find a solution.”
Sarkozy, however, called for more immediate and definitive action. “We cannot afford to plunge the EU into 10 years of institutional debate,” he said. “Eighteen countries have ratified the treaty so far and others should go on with the process, while we try to find a solution to the problem ahead of us,” he said. Sarkozy also stressed the fact that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown promised to continue with the ratification process.
Thus Ireland might find itself in a similar position as it was in 2001 after rejecting the Treaty of Nice. At the time, after a year of negotiating, the Irish government called a second referendum on the subject and it was dutifully passed.
EU politicians will discuss plans to deal with the current Lisbon Treaty crisis when they meet in Brussels starting June 19.
Agenda points
While Sarkozy’s visit to Prague was intended to discuss his plans and goals for the French EU presidency with Central European member states, he and Topolánek also discussed bilateral relations between their two countries.
They signed a declaration as well as an action plan for a Czech-French strategic partnership, which would act as a basis for long-term cooperation.
They also signed an agreement on cooperation between universities in the area of science. “Europe needs Central Europe, its youth, dynamism and hopes,” Sarkozy said.
Sarkozy had also been expected to present a bronze statue of Jan Palach — a Czech student who burnt himself to death on Wenceslas Square in 1969 to protest the Soviet-led invasion — as a gift to the Czech government expressing France’s will to develop strong ties with “new Europe.” The statue had been created in France by Hungarian sculptor András Beck a year after Palach’s death.
While the Czech Foreign Affairs Ministry expressed its gratitude for the offer, it suggested it would be better to keep it in France, as a copy is already on display at the Jan Palach High School in Prague and France is one of a few European countries that do not have Palach statues. The university town of Dijon, which has strong ties with Prague, is said to be a likely choice to house the statue, which could be unveiled there next year on the 40th anniversary of Palach’s death.

Ondřej Bouda can be reached at obouda@praguepost.com


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