The paper clip, 4 November

Papers across Europe mark the end of the process of ratifying the Lisbon treaty, writing about Czech President Václav Klaus's decision to sign the document yesterday, looking back over the ratification process across Europe and forward to the changes it will usher in. Among those with articles are Austria's Der Standard and Die Presse, Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Le Monde. Czech papers write that Klaus warned that “the Czech Republic will cease to be a sovereign state” (see Mlada fronta Dnes) and, as Hospodárské noviny writes, began an open war with the constitutional court, which ruled yesterday that the treaty was compatible with the Czech constitution. Lidové noviny writes that Klaus signed the document with no fanfare, merely announcing he had signed an hour after he put pen to paper.

The British papers – including the Guardian, the Times and the Independent – focus on the Conservative Party's decision to go back on a promise to put the treaty to a referendum once in power.

General Motors, the giant US carmaker, wants to hold on to its German subsidiary, Opel, after all, writes the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The decision would appear to put an end to Opel's planned takeover by Magna, a Canadian car-parts manufacturer.

The European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that crucifixes in classrooms violated pupils' freedom of religion, Der Standard writes. The case was brought by an Italian mother but could have repercussions across Europe.

Dagens Nyheter writes that EU and the US will establish a transatlantic energy council on ministerial level to increase co-operation on climate change, the environment and energy issues. But Fredrik Reinfeldt, the prime minister of Sweden, who holds the EU's rotating presidency, failed to assurances from US President Barack Obama on commitments to tackle climate change.  Reinfeldt said that now would be increasingly difficult to reach an agreement on climate change at the UN summit in Copenhagen in December.

Svenska Dagbladet writes that Reinfeldt wants Obama to show more “political will” ahead of the Copenhagen meeting.  According to the paper, Reinfeldt felt “betrayed” that the meeting failed to produce a common statement on tackling climate change.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel received standing ovations for a speech she gave to a joint session of the US Congress, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes.

Politiken writes that two of Denmark's political parties, the Socialist People's Party and the Radical Party, have both indicated that they are ready to accept that the country opt-out of the EU's asylum and migration polices. The concession could mean that Denmark is moving closer to referenda on its four opt-outs from EU co-operation: citizenship, defence, justice and home affairs and the euro. In practical terms the move means that Denmark could decide to join the EU's justice and home affairs co-operation, but opt-out from full co-operation on asylum and migration issues.

Berlingske Tidende writes that Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the secretary-general of NATO, made it clear to his closest advisers in 2007 that he wanted an international top job. A book published by two of the paper's journalists claim that  Fogh Rasmussen was interested in three other international jobs apart from the NATO position: president of the European Council, EU foreign policy chief and president of the European Commission.

The Wall Street Journal reports on the European Commission's revised GDP forecasts, which foresee a gradual recovery in 2010 and 2011. The Irish Times focuses on the record deficit projected.