PM to take signed Lisbon treaty to Rome next Friday Prime Minister Jan Fischer will take the signed Lisbon treaty to Rome next Friday, whereby the ratification process by the Czech Republic will be completed, a government spokesman told the ctk news agency on Thursday. Prime Minister Fischer is due to pay a two-day visit to the Vatican and will use the opportunity to take the treaty to Rome in person, the spokesman said. The Czech Republic is the last country to complete ratification of the Lisbon treaty which is due to take effect on December 1.
Prime Minister Jan Fischer will take the signed Lisbon treaty to Rome next Friday, whereby the ratification process by the Czech Republic will be completed, a government spokesman told the ctk news agency on Thursday. Prime Minister Fischer is due to pay a two-day visit to the Vatican and will use the opportunity to take the treaty to Rome in person, the spokesman said. The Czech Republic is the last country to complete ratification of the Lisbon treaty which is due to take effect on December 1.
Controversy over opt-out Social Democrat senators have slammed the government for negotiating an opt-out to the Charter of Fundamental Rights attached to the Lisbon treaty without Parliament's approval. In a stormy session of the upper chamber, Senate deputy chairwoman Alena Gajdušková of the Social Democrats said it was not the Lisbon treaty but the Czech government which was undermining the country's sovereignty by overstepping its mandate in this matter. Minister for European Affairs Štefan Fůle strongly rejected the accusations saying that the government had acted fully within its mandate. He said that the heads of the upper and lower chamber had both been present at the government session devoted to the Lisbon treaty and had not voiced any reservations with regard to the government's strategy. The opt-out granted to the Czech Republic is to be attached to the next EU accession treaty and is thus not expected to come into force for several years. The Social Democrats have said they will try to prevent it coming into force. Tuesday's fierce two-hour debate in the Senate is indicative of the controversy surrounding the opt-out which was adopted at the eleventh hour as a last minute concession to President Vaclav Klaus.
Social Democrat senators have slammed the government for negotiating an opt-out to the Charter of Fundamental Rights attached to the Lisbon treaty without Parliament's approval. In a stormy session of the upper chamber, Senate deputy chairwoman Alena Gajdušková of the Social Democrats said it was not the Lisbon treaty but the Czech government which was undermining the country's sovereignty by overstepping its mandate in this matter. Minister for European Affairs Štefan Fůle strongly rejected the accusations saying that the government had acted fully within its mandate. He said that the heads of the upper and lower chamber had both been present at the government session devoted to the Lisbon treaty and had not voiced any reservations with regard to the government's strategy.
The opt-out granted to the Czech Republic is to be attached to the next EU accession treaty and is thus not expected to come into force for several years. The Social Democrats have said they will try to prevent it coming into force. Tuesday's fierce two-hour debate in the Senate is indicative of the controversy surrounding the opt-out which was adopted at the eleventh hour as a last minute concession to President Vaclav Klaus.
Poll: vast majority of Czechs dissatisfied with political situation A sweeping 88% majority of Czechs are dissatisfied with the general political situation in the Czech Republic according to a survey published by the Median polling agency. According to Median, the postponement of early elections until next year has played a major part in that dissatisfaction. Respondents said that the politician who best handled the early-election crisis was President Václav Klaus, giving him a below-average grade of 3.1 on a five point scale. Civic Democíbratic party chairman Mirek Topolánek got the worst result in this regard with a grade of four. More than two-thirds of those polled also suggested that the ambiguous political situation in the Czech Republic will damage its position in Europe. Mr Topolánek's centre-right government was toppled by a lost confidence vote in the spring and was replaced by an interim technocratic government. Early elections scheduled for October of 2009 were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and put back to their original timeline, leaving the Czech Republic with a caretaker government until that time.
A sweeping 88% majority of Czechs are dissatisfied with the general political situation in the Czech Republic according to a survey published by the Median polling agency. According to Median, the postponement of early elections until next year has played a major part in that dissatisfaction. Respondents said that the politician who best handled the early-election crisis was President Václav Klaus, giving him a below-average grade of 3.1 on a five point scale. Civic Democíbratic party chairman Mirek Topolánek got the worst result in this regard with a grade of four. More than two-thirds of those polled also suggested that the ambiguous political situation in the Czech Republic will damage its position in Europe.
Mr Topolánek's centre-right government was toppled by a lost confidence vote in the spring and was replaced by an interim technocratic government. Early elections scheduled for October of 2009 were declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court and put back to their original timeline, leaving the Czech Republic with a caretaker government until that time.
