Speaking on the eve of a crucial summit of EU leaders, Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats, ODS) said that while the Czech Republic would prefer not to see changes to the EU treaties, he and his center-right government are prepared to support changes that relate primarily to the eurozone and would not cause a split in the EU. He also said it would be better to change treaties than using “creative circumvention” of EU laws.
“We support stricter application of budgetary and macro-economic discipline rules. We are therefore prepared to play an active and constructive role in regard to changes to treaties under the condition that proposed changes to fundamental rights will relate above all to countries in the eurozone, and that as a consequence the union will not be fragmented, which would threaten the functioning of the whole EU, including the united rules on the internal market,” Nečas told the ČTK news agency on Wednesday through government spokesman, Jan Osúch.
On Tuesday the EU President Herman van Rompuy sent a two-page report to the governments of the EU member states in which he suggested that legal tricks could be used to amend the Lisbon Treaty quickly, rather than sending treaty changes for endorsement by national governments — a process that could take months and likely end in a political crisis, a development that would paralyze efforts to save the euro and resolve the debt crisis in the EU.
There is intense pressure on EU leaders, especially those of countries in the eurozone, to come up with comprehensive measures to ensure that governments adhere to public spending targets and limits.
Germany chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Nicholas Sarkozy have prepared a proposal whereby economic and fiscal policy of member states that receive bailouts would effectively be transferred to the European Commission in Brussels. The two leaders — sometimes referred to as “Merkozy” — also want to bring forward the launch of a permanent EU bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), to 2012 from 2013.
According to van Rompuy’s report, measures under Article 126 of the Lisbon Treaty dealing with excessive budget deficits are contained in a protocol attached to the legal text of the document but remain separate from the treaty itself. ‘Above all it’s necessary to answer the question as to whether the amendments to the fundamental rights under consideration will apply to all EU members, or only to the states in the eurozone.’
The same article also lays out provisions for EU heads of state to change the attached protocol without having to seek the approval of their national legislatures, ort in the case of Ireland, through a referendum as demanded by the country’s Constitution. Unanimous approval by all 27 EU leaders would be required to amend the protocol attached to Article 126.
“Above all it’s necessary to answer the question as to whether the amendments to the fundamental rights under consideration will apply to all EU members, or only to the states in the eurozone,” Nečas said on Wednesday, adding that the Czech Republic “understands the specific needs for deeper integration of the eurozone.”
The rating agency Standard & Poors announced on Monday evening that it will downgrade the 15 eurozone member countries if the EU summit does not come up with sufficient measures.
