Press Advisories

19. 10. 200912:17

The ratification process for the Treaty of Lisbon

The Treaty of Lisbon is a reaction to the double expansion of the EU.

It is an important document which will allow the European Union to better face today's acute current issues. The institutional framework which it establishes will enable it to speed up and simplify decision-making processes with the Union. The European Union will thus be much more capable of action and more unified in the solving of economic, foreign policy or energy issues.

The Treaty of Lisbon was finalised at an informal session of the European Council in Lisbon on 18th and 19th October 2007.

The Treaty of Lisbon was signed by representatives of the EU member states on 13th December 2007. It was signed on behalf of the Czech Republic by then-Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg.

The Treaty comes into effect after it has been ratified by all 27 member states. Completion of the ratification process is currently a topical issue, since the Czech Republic is the last EU country which has not yet completed the process.

The ratification process for the Treaty of Lisbon in the Czech Republic

The Czech government adopted the Czech Republic by decree No. 1367 dated 4th December 2007.

On 24th April 2008 a group of senators submitted a first proposal to the Constitutional Court for an assessment of the compliance of the Treaty of Lisbon with the Czech constitution. In November of that year the Constitutional Court stated that the Treaty of Lisbon is not in conflict with the Constitution.

In February 2009 the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament adopted the Treaty of Lisbon by the required constitutional majority. On 6th May 2009 the Senate did the same.

On 29th September 2009 a group of 17 senators submitted to the Constitutional Court a second proposal to examine whether the Treaty of Lisbon is in compliance with the constitution of the Czech Republic. The decision of the Constitutional Court is currently awaiting, a public hearing should take place on 27th October 2009. The ratification process cannot be completed until the Court pronounces its final verdict.

On Friday 9th October Czech President Václav Klaus put out a statement, in which he made his signature conditional upon the provision of a special condition.

Further to this position the Czech government has begun discussions with both the Czech President and with its European partners on a possible resolution of the situation which has arisen and has confirmed its commitment, following from the conclusions of the June 2009 European Council, to complete ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon so that it can come into force by the end of this year.