socialmedian: Czechs fire starting gun on EU presidential race after eight-year struggle to ratify treaty

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Czechs fire starting gun on EU presidential race after eight-year struggle to ratify treaty

Source: The Guardian

Nov 03, 2009

Summary

• Prague court ruling opens battle for 'plum posts'
• Miliband and D'Alema emerge as favourites

The treaty designed to transform Europe into a more unified and influential global player yesterday cleared its last hurdle to ratification, throwing open the race to secure the plum posts of European president and foreign minister.

President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic, a staunch opponent of the treaty reforming the way the European Union is run, ended months of stalling after his country's supreme court dismissed a claim that the document was incompatible with the Czech constitution.

Klaus's signature meant that the 27 countries of the EU have ratified the treaty, ending an eight-year quest to put the governance of Europe on a new footing.

The treaty is likely to come into force at the end of the month and EU leaders are expected to summon an emergency summit in Brussels next week to grapple over the two big jobs for which Tony Blair and David Miliband, the foreign secretary have been named as leading contenders.

José Manuel Barroso, president of the European c

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