Czech problems with the Fiscal Compact Treaty

Merkozy yesterday at their press conference were all gung-ho on getting the Fiscal Compact Treaty signed by the Spring. Reading the article linked here, it appears that were such to be the case it would not include the signature of the Czech Rebublic.

Other highlights of the survey of the Czech political scene are these:

Moreover it is widely believed that Václav Klaus is planning to form a new eurosceptic party once his term as president ends in early 2013 – this would most probably take the form of a Czech version of UKIP, possibly also including more extreme elements. If Klaus does form his new party he is likely to attract current members of ODS, increasing the vulnerability of the party which he himself founded.

...A further complicating factor will come early in 2012 when both chambers of parliament debate the Czech opt-out from the Lisbon Treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights. The opt-out was demanded by Václav Klaus as a precondition for signing the treaty, the last step in the process of ratification. The Czech Republic was the last country to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, the delay being the result of cases brought in the Constitutional Court by Klaus supporters.....Ironically, it is now clear that the opt-out will not be ratified in the Czech Republic, where it needs to pass both chambers of parliament. Since elections last Autumn the opposition Social Democrats have had a majority in the upper house, the Senate, and are committed to voting down this opt-out, which they see as an attempt to curtail workers' rights. This will leave Klaus and his supporters incensed and in no mood to countenance further European treaties.