Klaus must OK Lisbon changes

An addendum to the controversial Lisbon Treaty that seeks to create a permanent eurozone bailout mechanism must be approved by President Václav Klaus.

"Apart from being an individual and a concrete politician, the president is also a constitutional institution that is precisely anchored in the ratification process," Prime Minister Petr Nečas told reporters after a Feb. 3 meeting with Klaus and Foreign Affairs Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

"It naturally requires a broader agreement across the political spectrum."

The Nečas government has delayed putting the Lisbon amendment to a parliamentary vote and entered discussions with the opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD). While parliamentary approval seems likely, acting ČSSD Chairman Bohuslav Sobotka argues a constitutional three-fifths majority should be required to approve the changes.  

The country was the last of the European Union's 27 member states to ratify the contentious treaty, which went into force Dec. 1, 2009.

Lisbon is alternately branded either essential for making the decision-making processes of the European Union more efficient or as a dangerous deviation from democratic principles that further isolates the EU's half-billion citizens from leaders in Brussels.  

Klaus, a noted Euroskeptic, signed the Lisbon Treaty only after securing an opt-out from the agreements' Charter of Fundamental Rights, arguing it could be used to force restitution payments to families of ethnic Germans who were deported from Czechoslovakia following World War II. The opt-out is to be written into the EU's next accession treaty, likely to be when Croatia joins the bloc, which may occur within the next two years.

The amendment now under consideration seeks to add two sentences to Article 136 of the Lisbon Treaty and seeks to replace the present, temporary, 750 billion euro bailout fund in 2013.

It will require private sector bond holders to share in any debt restructuring costs. EU leaders insist the change is a minor revision that does not require a voter referendum - the likes of which occurred in Ireland during the original Lisbon approval process - and leaders from the 27 members states pledged to support the changes at a December 2010 summit.

According to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy the new text will read: "The member states whose currency is the euro may establish a stability mechanism, to be activated if indispensable to safeguard the stability of the euro area as a whole. The granting of any required financial assistance under the mechanism will be made subject to strict conditionality." 

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com