EU leaders call for quick treaty ratification

European Union officials called Tuesday for swift ratification of its Lisbon reform treaty, intended to give the bloc more global clout, after the Czech constitutional court threw out a legal challenge. Skip related content

"I believe that no further unnecessary delays should prevent the entry into force of the Lisbon treaty," Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the executive European Commission, said in a written statement.

He spoke after the ruling cleared the way for Czech President Vaclav Klaus to sign the treaty, which is designed to make decision-making smoother, create a long-term EU president and give its foreign policy chief more power. Klaus has not said when he will do so.

"I hope that we can now move forward as quickly as possible on the nomination of the president of the European Council and Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative," Barroso added.

He said agreement on these appointments would allow him to start assembling the next European Commission, which groups representatives of the 27 member states.

The Czech Republic is the only EU member that has not yet ratified the pact. It requires the consent of all member states to go into force.

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, whose country holds the EU's collective presidency, said the court ruling provided legal clarity on the status of the treaty which would help progress towards ratification.

"I welcome the court's decision and that we have legal clarity on the Lisbon treaty," he told Reuters. "We are now very close to full ratification."

"Together with a signature in the Czech Republic the (Swedish) presidency will continue the completion of the Lisbon treaty preparations," Reinfeldt said.

European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek told Reuters he expected the treaty to go into force by the end of the year.

(Reporting by Darren Ennis, writing by Timothy Heritage, editing by Michael Roddy)