Czech president's new treaty snag 捷克总统谨慎对待欧盟新条款

The Eurosceptic Czech President, Vaclav Klaus, wants a new two-sentence footnote to be added to the EU's Lisbon Treaty before signing it, Sweden says.

瑞典官方称，反亲欧派捷克总统Vaclav Klaus在签署欧盟里斯本条约之前想要加入两条特别脚注。

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President Klaus has compared EU institutions to the old Soviet bloc

The new condition came up during a phone conversation between Mr Klaus and Swedish PM Fredrik Reinfeldt, current holder³ of the EU presidency⁴.

Mr Reinfeldt said the requested footnote（脚注） was linked to the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Poland's president is to sign Lisbon in a ceremony on Saturday, officials say.

Poland and the Czech Republic are the only EU states yet to ratify⁵（批准） the treaty, which is aimed at streamlining EU institutions, to improve decision-making in the enlarged 27-nation bloc.

The treaty has a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which covers a wide range of EU citizens' rights. The charter will become legally binding⁶ once Lisbon enters into force, although the UK has an opt-out from it.

Mr Klaus has refused to sign the treaty until the Czech Constitutional Court rules on a new legal complaint against it, lodged⁷ by senators allied⁸ to him.

According to Mr Reinfeldt, Mr Klaus also wants the new footnote adopted by the European Council, the grouping of EU heads of state and prime ministers.

"I told him this is the wrong message at the wrong time for the EU. I told him clearly it is his ink on the paper that counts and I don't want this to delay the treaty going through as soon as possible," said Mr Reinfeldt, quoted by Reuters news agency.

The Czech president told him that he would sign Lisbon if he got the extra footnote and if the Czech Constitutional Court rejected the senators' legal challenge, Mr Reinfeldt said.

"We need clarification（解答） on exactly what he [President Klaus] is asking for," he added.

Mr Klaus's demand came only a day after the Czech Prime Minister, Jan Fischer, said he was confident ratification⁹ would be complete by the end of the year.

Polish signing ceremony

The BBC's Dominic Hughes in Brussels says EU leaders will see the latest objection as another delaying tactic¹⁰（拖延时间战术）.

They will be unlikely to go along with such a request, which runs the risk of opening up the whole ratification process once again - something they are desperate to avoid, our correspondent says.

Mr Reinfeldt appeared baffled（阻碍） and a little angry about the latest development, he adds.

In Poland, President Lech Kaczynski's chief of staff Wladyslaw Stasiak said "the president will sign the treaty on Saturday at noon (1000 GMT)". EU leaders will attend the ceremony.

Earlier, there had been confusion about the president's intentions, with another aide（助手，副官） saying the signing would be on Sunday.

The treaty cleared a major hurdle¹¹ on 2 October when voters in the Republic of Ireland backed it overwhelmingly, in a second referendum（公民投票，请示书）. The Irish had rejected it first time round, in June 2008.

President Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, had said he would wait for the Irish voters' final verdict before signing the treaty.

EU leaders are anxious to get the treaty fully¹² ratified¹³ this year - well before UK elections next spring, which could see a triumph for Conservative leader David Cameron. Many in his party oppose Lisbon and are demanding a referendum on it.

EU governments see the treaty as fundamental to the 27-nation bloc's future success. Without it, they argue, the EU's decision-making processes will remain slow and cumbersome¹⁴（笨重的）, because they date back to when the EU consisted of only 15 nations.

Opponents see Lisbon as part of a federalist（联邦制拥护者） agenda that threatens national sovereignty（主权，独立国）.