Path clear for treaty as Czechs sign

THE way was finally cleared for the Lisbon Treaty to come into force when Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed the document yesterday hours after his country’s Constitutional Court cleared it.

A special summit of EU leaders will be held, possibly next week, to nominate the president of the European Council and the foreign minister, both posts created by the treaty.

The European Commission will also be pushing the remaining handful of countries, including Ireland, to nominate their commissioner in the coming days.