Under the deal reached on October 29, EU leaders accepted Czech President Vaclav Klaus's demand that his country be allowed to opt out of the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is attached to the treaty. Klaus had sought the exemption to ensure that ethnic Germans expelled from the former Czechoslovakia after World War II could not reclaim their property in European courts.
The way Klaus forced the EU's hand caused a great deal of consternation in Brussels. After the deal, the president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said an exception was made for the Czech Republic in the interests of the greater common good.
"But, because we are a union of states and citizens, sometimes, we need to make some concessions and to recognize diversity in Europe."
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If the Czech Constitutional Court rules in the treaty's favor, which could happen next week, and Klaus actually goes on to sign the Lisbon Treaty -- something that no one in Brussels dares to take for granted, given the Czech president's maverick reputation -- a raft of reforms will be instituted.
Under the Lisbon Treaty, the EU will get its first-ever president. That job now looks increasingly likely to go Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, after former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, from Britain's political left, crucially failed to win the backing of Europe's socialists.
Current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown lobbied hard for Blair, arguing that the EU needs a strong leader with a global reputation.
But Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn -- himself a socialist -- said last night that Blair's close cooperation with then-U.S. President George W. Bush during the invasion of Iraq, when the European Union was split down the middle, basically rules him out for the EU's top job.
"There is a link, and there will remain a link for the coming generation, between Iraq, Bush, and Tony Blair. So its not easy, not easy," Asselborn said.
Brussels sources note, however, that Blair's star was on the wane long before this week, when it emerged that German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not support his candidacy.
Another key EU leader, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, virtually ruled out another top contender, Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, by letting it be known he did not think highly of Juncker's performance as head of the EU's "Eurogroup" -- the 16 countries that have adopted the euro, whose meetings Juncker chaired until early this year.
This has cleared the path for Balkenende, the conservative prime minister of the Netherlands, favored by Merkel. Before the summit, Balkenende was seen chatting convivially with Sarkozy.
Climate Deadlock
If Lisbon is adopted, the bloc will also have a foreign minister -- called a "high representative" -- and new voting arrangements will be instituted that more closely reflect the size of the member states. National veto rights will be rolled back in many areas -- although foreign policy, direct taxation, budget, and defense policy will remain the preserve of the member states.
Many in Brussels see the leading candidate for the EU's beefed-up foreign minister's role as Britain's current foreign secretary, David Miliband. Although Miliband earlier ruled himself out of the job, it's thought he did so in order not to publicly torpedo the chances of Blair, since no one country may hold more than a single EU top job.
Earlier, the summit remained deadlocked on the main issue of substance on its agenda -- global warming. Most Eastern European member states, led by Poland, refused to allow the EU to commit itself to a fixed promise of funds to help pay for the global costs of fighting climate change. The bloc's poorer eastern members want guarantees they will not be made to foot a proportional share of the bill.
The issue is crucial in the run-up to a global climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Without a concrete set of figures to show, the EU's vaunted leadership role in the process will be damaged -- as will be the bloc's chances of talking the United States and other major industrial powers into following its example.
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