THE CZECH constitutional court is expected to issue a ruling on whether the Lisbon Treaty is compatible with the Czech constitution next Tuesday.
The decision means EU leaders will have to delay appointing the first president of the European Council until after this week’s EU summit.
Sweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, says it cannot begin formal consultations on candidates until it is clear the Lisbon Treaty will enter into force. This requires all 27 EU states to ratify the treaty, including the Czech Republic, the last EU state to complete the ratification process.
Consultations on names will begin if there is a positive judgment from the Czech court, which is expected to issue a ruling on November 3rd, and if Czech president Vaclav Klaus commits to signing the treaty.
Mr Klaus is demanding EU leaders give Prague an opt-out from a Bill of rights made legally binding by the treaty when they meet in Brussels tomorrow.
“This adjournment means the court will not rule this week. EU leaders are now likely to discuss a road map at the summit detailing when a decision on the new jobs created by the treaty can be taken,” said a Swedish diplomat.
The treaty creates two powerful EU jobs: a new post of president of the European Council; and a beefed-up EU high representative for common foreign and security policy, who will represent EU states and sit on the European Commission, which controls a multibillion-euro aid budget.
Speculation has intensified in recent days over who is capable of winning the unanimous backing of all 27 EU heads of state to earn the nominations to the posts.
On Monday British foreign secretary David Miliband advocated former prime minister Tony Blair for the job of European Council president, warning that the EU risked being sidelined unless it picked a prominent candidate.
But several small countries – Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg – together with Poland have questioned whether the post should be held by such a prominent and controversial figure.
Luxembourg prime minister Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday told French newspaper Le Monde he would be interested in the post.
“I have learnt that you must never declare yourself a candidate for such a post. You must let others ask you to take it. If I received such a call, I would have no reason to refuse to hear it,” he said.
Mr Juncker, as chairman of the Eurogroup – the group states that share the euro currency – has experience in working behind the scenes at EU level to negotiate compromise deals.
Asked whether Mr Blair would make a good candidate for the post, Mr Juncker said he did not object personally to the former prime minister but rather to Britain’s record as an EU partner.
“I can’t really identify any area which Britain has shown real European inspiration over the past 10 years, apart from a few advances on defence,” he said.
Mr Juncker is likely to face opposition from Britain, which vetoed his candidacy for the post of commission president in 2004 on the grounds that he is a federalist.
He could also face opposition from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who clashed publicly with Mr Juncker earlier this year over a joint Franco-German campaign within the EU for a boycott of tax havens.
The rivalry between Mr Blair and Mr Juncker could enable a compromise candidate to emerge such as Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende, former Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen or Finnish president Tarja Halonen, who would provide gender balance among the top EU jobs.
Possible candidates for EU foreign affairs chief include Finn Olli Rehn, who is European commissioner for enlargement policy, and Mr Miliband, although he insists he is not interested in the job.
