Lisbon Treaty talks start without Klaus

New talks on how to bring the Lisbon treaty into force take place today – but the man with key to its future will not be there.

After the resounding Irish “Yes”, all eyes are on Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose signature is required to complete full ratification of a Treaty designed to create a more efficient, user-friendly European Union.

Mr Klaus’s own Parliament has already endorsed the document, but the deeply-eurosceptic president has seized on a last-minute legal challenge by a group of Czech senators and says he can do nothing until the Czech constitutional court has ruled on their objections to the treaty.

And while everyone awaits the outcome, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer is joining European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek for treaty talks in Brussels.

“This meeting is not going to speed up a decision by Mr Klaus to sign up,” said one EU official.

“The talks are on treaty issues but the hope must be that the Czech president will not hold things up beyond the time it takes the court to declare formally on the senators’ objections”.

In Brussels the belief is that the court’s formal response will be in the treaty’s favour, but the question is how long that will take.

The UK Tories are still hoping Mr Klaus will keep the rest of Europe waiting long enough for an incoming Tory government after a general election to seize on the lack of total ratification to call a UK referendum on the Treaty.

But the realistic expectation is a Czech presidential decision before the end of this year, with the Treaty due in force at the start of next year.

The only other obstacle still in the Treaty’s path – a signature from Polish President Lech Kczynski – is expected to melt away quickly, with the Pole due to sign on the dotted line within days.

But any delay is frustrating for Treaty supporters desperate to put in place the necessary practical arrangements to implement the document.

That includes creating two new top EU jobs – the “President of Europe” and “Foreign Secretary.”

Publicly nothing can be done about filling those jobs until and unless the Czech president puts pen to paper.

But behind the scenes the speculation about Tony Blair as the new president is mounting, with EU leaders hoping to be in a position to name names for both jobs - and certainly for the foreign secretary role – at a summit later this month.

Meanwhile Mr Fischer will tell today’s talks what the other participants already know – that the Czech Prime Minister has precious little influence on the president, whose signature cannot be speeded up while the constitutional court is still considering the tactical objections raised by Czech senators.

If those objections are dismissed, Mr Klaus will be unable credibly to hold out much longer despite his personal animosity towards the EU.

After Ireland’s “Yes” vote, Commission President Barroso pointed out that the Czech parliament has already approved the Treaty, and that Mr Klaus is appointed by that parliament.

It would be strange, he suggested, if the president went against his parliament, adding: “I think in the end President Klaus will sign the treaty.”