CYIL 2010

THE QUEST OF THE LISBON TREATY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC …

THE QUEST OF THE LISBON TREATY IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SOME OF THE CHANGES IT INTRODUCES IN EU PRIMARY LAW

Emil Ruffer 1

Abstract: This article describes the ratification process of the Treaty of Lisbon in the Czech Republic, analyses all three relevant judgements of the Czech Constitutional Court, and comments on some of the issues related to the Treaty of Lisbon, such as the “Irish Legal Guarantees” and request of the Czech Republic to accede to the Protocol concerning application of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU in Poland and the United Kingdom. The process to the ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon was quite cumbersome in the Czech Republic, and after the first judgement of the Constitutional Court (Lisbon I) and amendment of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament (to strengthen its control powers regarding certain acts of European Council and Council of Ministers), two further proceedings were initiated by a group of discontented Senators (challenge against the Rules of Procedure and finally Lisbon II case). As the judicial proceedings in Lisbon II case advanced, there was another interesting development when the President of the Czech Republic requested additional guarantees in the form of accession to the above mentioned Protocol concerning the application of the EU Charter, as a condition for the completion of ratification. In the second part, the article offers overview and analyses of the main changes introduced by the Treaty of Lisbon in the area of EU international agreements (EU legal personality, agreements in the areas of CFSP and JHA, external competence in the common commercial policy, domestic effects of EU agreements). Resumé: Tento článek popisuje ratifikační proces Lisabonské smlouvy v ČR, analyzuje všechny tři související rozhodnutí Ústavního soudu ČR a komentuje některé otázky vztahující se k Lisabonské smlouvě, jako jsou tzv. „Irské právní záruky“ a žádost ČR o přistoupení k Protokolu o uplatňování Listiny základních práv EU v Polsku a Spojeném království. Proces ratifikace Lisabonské smlouvy v ČR byl poměrně obtížný, a po prvním nálezu Ústavního soudu (Lisabon I) a změnách Jednacích řádů Parlamentu ČR (k posílení jeho kontrolních pravomocí ve vztahu k některým aktům Evropské rady a Rady ministrů) byla skupinou nespokojených senátorů zahájena dvě další řízení (napadení novel Jednacích řádů a konečně případ Lisabon 1 The author is the Director of the EU Law Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (MFA). However, the opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily correspond with the official position of the MFA and do not bind this institution in any way. All sources quoted in this article regarding the position of the government and other participants in the proceedings before the Constitutional Court and in other matters related to the Treaty of Lisbon are available to the public on the website of the government (www.vlada.cz) and/or the website of the Constitutional Court (www.concourt.cz) or the personal website of the President (www.klaus.cz).

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