Czech senators bring complaint against Lisbon treaty to Constitutional Court

A group of senators handed a complaint about the EU’s reforming Lisbon treaty to the Czech Constitutional Court on Tuesday afternoon. The move is expected to delay ratification of the reform document in the Czech Republic by anything between three and nine months. The Czech Republic is already amongst the last European states to ratify Lisbon; besides the Czechs, only Ireland and Poland are yet to approve the document. Opponents of the Constitutional Court complaint say the move could damage the Czech Republic’s standing in Europe, while senators responsible for bringing the complaint say that Lisbon encroaches upon Czech sovereignty and could be at odds with Czech national law. The Constitutional Court has already reviewed several controversial passages of the treaty at the request of right-wing senators. Last autumn it ruled that these articles were in line with Czech law. This time the court will be examining the entire reform document. Head of the court, Pavel Rychetský, called an extraordinary plenary session on Tuesday afternoon to get discussion of Lisbon underway.

Author: Rosie Johnston