经济广角:捷克为《里斯本条约》设置新障碍

Czechs put new hurdle in way of Lisbon pact
Vaclav Klaus, the Eurosceptic Czech president, yesterday put up yet another hurdle before ratifying the Lisbon treaty, a demand for an opt-out from the pact's charter of rights and freedoms similar to that obtained by Britain and Poland.

“Before the ratification, the Czech Republic must at least ex post negotiate a similar exemption,” Mr Klaus said, explaining that the opt-out is needed to prevent the heirs of the millions of Sudeten Germans expelled after the second world war from filing land claims to regain their property. “It [the treaty] endangers the legal status of the citizens and the stability of property rights in our country.”

Mr Klaus's new demand stirred confusion a week after Irish voters appeared to clarify the bloc's future by approving the treaty in a second referendum. Lisbon, first proposed in 2001, is seen as vital to streamlining the EU and allowing it to project greater power on the world stage.

Although the Czech parliament has approved the treaty, Mr Klaus has refused to sign, first saying he would wait for the Irish referendum, then saying his hands were tied because of a second appeal filed by rebel senators before the Czech courts.

Some EU officials dismissed the new request as another delaying tactic, noting that the Czech president had let two years pass without explicitly raising the Sudeten issue.

Others argued that Mr Klaus's statement could perversely nudge the treaty toward adoption because it had at last clarified his position. “Now we know what he wants,” said a diplomat from Sweden.

对欧盟持怀疑态度的捷克共和国总统瓦茨拉夫•克劳斯(Vaclav Klaus)昨日要求豁免《里斯本条约》(Lisbon treaty)中的权利与自由章节（类似于英国和波兰），从而在批准该条约前又设置了一个障碍。

克劳斯表示：“在批准之前，捷克共和国必须至少就类似的豁免提前协商。”他解释称，之所以有必要获得豁免，是为了防止二战后被驱逐的数百万苏台德德国人的后裔提交土地要求要回他们的财产。“它（《里斯本条约》）危及我国居民的合法地位和财产权利的稳定”。

一周前，爱尔兰选民在第二次全民公投中批准了里斯本条约，似乎让欧盟的未来变得清晰起来，而克劳斯的新要求则引发了混乱。2001年被首次提出的《里斯本条约》被认为在优化欧盟以及允许欧盟在世界舞台上发挥更大作用方面至关重要。

尽管捷克议会已批准了里斯本条约，但克劳斯拒绝签署该条约。他先表示，将等待爱尔兰全民公投，随后又称，由于反对该条约的参议员在捷克法院第二次提起上诉，他无法签署条约。

一些欧盟官员将新要求看作克劳斯的又一个缓兵之计，他们表示，这位捷克总统让两年时间白白过去，并没有明确提出苏台德问题。

其他人则辩称，克劳斯的声明可能反而会推动里斯本条约的批准，因为他最终阐明了自己的立场。一位瑞典外交官表示：“现在我们知道了他所要的东西。”