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Wednesday’s ruling by the Constitutional Court that the European Union's Lisbon Treaty does not violate the Czech constitution has been welcomed and scorned from the two sides of the Lisbon debate. So what next for Czech ratification and the treaty itself? Radio Prague spoke to Roman Joch, director of the conservative think-tank the Civic Institute.

After the Constitutional Court ruled on Wednesday that the Lisbon treaty was in line with the Czech constitution, ratification of the key document in the Czech Republic is arguably back on track. But even so, ratifying the treaty may not be easy. Opponents who fear the document erodes national sovereignty and cedes too much power to Brussels, have indicated they will do everything in their power to stop it from being passed. Supporters, meanwhile, would like to see the document ratified as soon as possible, preferably before the Czech Republic

The Czech Constitutional Court has ruled that the European Union’s Lisbon treaty is in line with the Czech constitution, paving the way for the country’s parliament to vote on ratifying the document. The court had considered the constitutionality of the EU’s reform treaty at the request of the Senate. The Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, welcomed the verdict, saying it was good news for the Czechs and good news for the whole of Europe. The zech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, said he expected debate on the subject to continue. As for when the Czech Parliament will vote on ratifying Lisbon, the prime minister said the date was in the hands of parliamentary committees. Previously he had said the vote would be held in the first three months of next year, though there have been suggestions it could be held by the end of this year – that is, before the Czech presidency of the EU begins on January 1. The Green Party have called for a special session of Parliament so a vote on ratification can be held as quickly as possible.

Meanwhile, it is possible legislators could send the Lisbon treaty to the Constitutional Court for consideration again. The court was asked to examine six articles of Lisbon and did so – it could in theory now be asked to look at other parts of the document.

Speaking after the verdict, the Czech president, Václav Klaus said he expected some lawmakers would send the document to the Constitutional Court again. Mr Klaus, a fierce critic of further European integration, described the court’s ruling as to a great extent political, and not purely legal. He also suggested the outcome had been decided before the session that concluded on Wednesday morning.

Earlier this week Mr Klaus indicated he would not sign the Treaty of Lisbon unless it was ratified by Ireland. The Irish voted no to the document in a referendum in June and it is unclear how the country will proceed. Without the ratification of all 27 members, Lisbon cannot come into effect.

Supporters of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty were given cause for celebration on Wednesday morning as the Constitutional Court ruled that the treaty does not violate the Czech Constitution. This landmark ruling paves the way for the Czech parliament to begin the process of ratifying the treaty. The Czech Republic is the only EU member which has not voted on Lisbon, amid a dispute over sovereignty that has pitted the government against president Václav Klaus. But Mr Klaus isn’t giving up yet.

In related news, the head of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, Pervenche Beres, has said that the Czech government could speed up economic reform by adopting a timetable for euro introduction. Speaking on a visit to Prague, Mrs Beres said that implementing a timetable for euro adoption would in turn place an added onus upon reforms being passed. The MEP also emphasized the importance of the common European currency in the current financial crisis, calling the euro an ‘anchor’ stabilizing the economies of countries in which it was used.

In more business news, the Czech Republic will not decide upon a date for introducing the common European currency until next year, the national coordinator for euro adoption, Oldřich Dědek, has said. Last week, the governor of the Czech National Bank Zdeněk Tůma also indicated that the debate on euro adoption should be postponed until next year. Exporters such as Škoda Auto have been urging the government to lay out a roadmap towards euro adoption as quickly as possible. On Tuesday, Oldřich Dědek said he first wanted to see how the euro weathered the current global financial crisis. It looks increasingly unlikely that Czechs will adopt the single European currency before 2012 at the earliest.

The head of the Czech army Vlastimil Picek has urged the government to highlight the overlap between some EU and NATO military missions during the Czech Republic’s presidency of the European Union starting in January next year. Mr Picek said on Tuesday that small countries such as the Czech Republic found it difficult to bear the financial burden of participating in two missions in one country, and urged Czech Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanová to attempt to restructure some of the EU’s defence activities during the country’s six months at the helm. For her part, Mrs Parkanová said that she would be focusing on widening some of the EU’s foreign missions during the Czech EU presidency – in particular, the defence minister said she aimed to fortify the EU’s presence in Afghanistan. In response to Mr Picek’s request, the defence minister said the Czech military budget would be raised next year by 1.5 billion crowns to nearly 55.5 billion crowns (2.9 billion USD).

All eyes were on the Czech Constitutional Court on Tuesday, where a verdict was expected on whether the EU’s Lisbon treaty is in line with the Czech constitution. If the court had rejected Lisbon, it could well have thrown the EU into disarray. The opposite verdict would have paved the way for the Czech Parliament to vote on ratification. As it happened, the ruling has been postponed until Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg has said that President Václav Klaus is not fully familiar with the reality of the European Union. In an interview published by the Austrian daily Der Standard on Saturday, Mr Schwarzenberg said that like every critic, President Klaus was right in many issues, but the EU reality escaped him. Czech President Václav Klaus, known for his euro-scepticism, met with a leading opponent of the Lisbon treaty, Declan Ganley during his recent visit to Ireland. The meeting provoked a strong reaction from the Irish government. In the interview for the Austrian daily, Mr Schwarzenberg also rejected doubts about the adoption of the Lisbon treaty in the Czech Republic, and said that the Czech government was stable and in no danger of falling during the country’s upcoming EU presidency.