European Union (EU) leaders have decided to postpone a decision on the Lisbon Treaty following the Irish "No" vote and recognize the difficulty of the Czech Republic in its ratification.
At their two-day summit, EU leaders agreed that they will revisit this issue in October when they meet again.
"The European Council (of heads of state and government) agreed that more time was needed to analyze the situation," reads the final conclusions of the summit.
They hoped that the Irish government can come up with suggestions of what to do next at the October summit.
"The European Council agreed to Ireland's suggestion to come back to this issue at its meeting of Oct. 15, 2008 in order to consider the way forward," they said.
The leaders had to address the Czech Republic's concerns about the ratification process in the country. The Czech ratification process was suspended in April after the Senate demanded a constitutional court ruling on whether the treaty is in line with the Czech constitution.
Czech President Vaclav Klaus, a euro skeptic declared the Lisbon Treaty dead following the Irish rejection.
EU leaders added a footnote in the final conclusions of their summit, saying "The European Council noted that the Czech Republic cannot complete their ratification process until the constitutional court delivers its positive opinion on the accordance of the Lisbon Treaty with the Czech constitutional order."
The leaders also fell short of directly calling for the continuation of the ratification process.
"The European Council noted that the parliaments in 19 member states have ratified the treaty and that the ratification process continues in the other countries," reads the conclusions.
The Lisbon Treaty, signed by EU leaders in December 2007 in the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, needs the ratification of all 27 EU member states before it can enter into force.
EU leaders had hoped that the ratification process could be completed by the end of 2008 and the treaty could come into force on Jan. 1, 2009, in time for elections of the European Parliament.
The Lisbon Treaty provides for key institutional reforms of the EU, including the composition of the European Parliament and the European Commission, the executive body of the EU.
The Irish rejection, however, put the timeline in question.
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, who chaired the summit, said there was a reason why the leaders did not set a timeline for the solution of the impasse.
"Any external pressure, any feeling of its citizens of any member state -- not only Ireland -- that somebody is interfering with their sovereign right to decide could actually adversely affect the timeline," Jansa told a press conference at the end of the summit.
"Because we are aware of the importance of the Lisbon Treaty ...we would not be wise to make steps that would only prolong this process," he said.
EU leaders are looking for the completion of ratification by all other EU member states as soon as possible. Then Ireland could be offered "sweeteners" so that chances of success could be boosted in a second referendum, like what happened in 2001 with the Nice Treaty.
Ireland rejected the Nice Treaty in 2001 in a referendum. A second vote was successful after the treaty was amended in a way that Ireland's military neutrality was guaranteed.
Concessions this time may include the preservation of a member of the European Commission for each member state and permanent national vetoes on taxation.
Under the Lisbon Treaty, the European Commission will be composed of representatives from two thirds of EU member states, instead of each for every country as it stands now.
The treaty also creates the post of a long-term president of the European Council in place of the current six-month rotation between member states.
The role of the EU foreign policy chief will be enhanced. He or she will chair regular meetings of the EU foreign ministers and head a combined foreign service with both national and EU diplomats.
The Lisbon Treaty also makes decision-making more effective by introducing majority voting in more policy areas.
EU leaders also expressed concern over rising oil and food prices. They agreed to consider short-term measures to alleviate the impact of high oil and food prices on the poorer sections of the population. They would look at long-term measures at their October summit.
They expressed support for an international conference that brings together oil-producing and oil-consuming countries in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
The leaders asked Zimbabwe to stop what they claim violence and intimidation to ensure a free and fair presidential run-off on June 27.
(Xinhua News Agency 21, 2008)
