No date set for ruling on constitutionality of Lisbon Treaty, says court head

The Czech Constitutional Court will begin assessing whether the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the Czech constitution in September, its chairman Pavel Rychetský said on Sunday. However, Mr Rychetský said he could not say when the court would issue a decision. The Czech Senate, which is dominated by the somewhat euro-sceptic Civic Democrats, sent the Lisbon Treaty to the Constitutional Court for consideration earlier this year. The Czech Parliament is expected to vote on ratifying the reform treaty after the court issues a ruling, although the future of the document has been thrown into doubt following its rejection by Irish voters – all 27 EU members must ratify Lisbon before it can come into effect.

Author: Ian Willoughby