Czech President Václav Klaus has asked for a footnote to be added to the Lisbon treaty before he will sign the Czech Republic's ratification document.
Klaus told Frederik Reinfeldt, Sweden's prime minister and president of the European Council, that he wanted the footnote added in a telephone call on Thursday evening to discuss the next steps for implementing the Lisbon treaty.
Reinfeldt told Klaus: “This is the wrong message at the wrong time.”
He said that Klaus was not “clear” about the nature of the footnote but said that it related to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Any change which would alter the legal implications of the charter or the treaty would need to be agreed by all 27 EU governments and would require a new round of ratification.
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer said on Wednesday that he expected Klaus to sign the Czech ratification document by the end of the year, once the Czech constitutional court had ruled on whether the Lisbon treaty was compatible with the Czech constitution.
Polish President Lech Kaczyński is due to sign the ratification document on Saturday which would leave the Czech Republic as the only one of the 27 EU countries which has not formally completed ratification.
The Swedish presidency and EU governments are keen to complete ratification of the Lisbon treaty as soon as possible so they can take decisions on appointing a president of the European Council and a high representative for foreign policy.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso also wants to start forming his next team of commissioners but some governments are reluctant to make nominations until it is clear when the Lisbon treaty will come into force and who the president of the Council is likely to be.
