Czech press survey - November 4

"However, if we are to transfer our powers to someone else, it should be a matter for us to decide first. A suspicion has arisen that the US judges are at odds with the spirit of the institution they have the honour to represent," Kaiser writes.

He reacts to the US verdict rejecting the senators' complaint on Tuesday.

Certain points in the text of the US verdict, however, make an impression as if the US were not a referee but a player in the dispute, Kaiser writes.

In response to the complainants' objections against "Europeanism" as a criterion for future EU commissioners to meet, the US called the requirement justified as the EU has set certain goals and pursues them.

However, in Brussels their idea of "Europeanism" is far more concrete than what various conferences on European identity have ever outlined. Is Alexandr Vondra, former Czech deputy PM and the Civic Democrats' (ODS) nominee for a commissioner, a proper European if he vehemently promoted the project of a U.S. radar base on Czech soil? Would his change of position on the European constitution and his recent accommodating approach to the EU be enough for Brussels to accept him as Czech EU commissioner? Kaiser asks.

Europeanism is a political category that should have no place in a country's constitutional order, he points out.

Unlimited state sovereignty does not exist. State sovereignty does not mean virginity. If a state believes it has lost sovereignty, it can make a decision to regain it, Petr Uhl writes in Pravo, reacting to President Vaclav Klaus's statement that the Czech Republic has lost a portion of sovereignty as a result of the Lisbon treaty ratification.

Klaus keeps his negative stand on the treaty. He sharply criticised the Constitutional Court (US) judges after their pro-Lisbon verdict on Tuesday and asserted that the cons of the EU integration prevail over the pros already now, Uhl writes.

The US correctly emphasised that the Czech Republic can leave the EU. Under the previous regime, it was impossible for the country to leave organisations such as the Council of Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) or Warsaw Treaty, Uhl writes.

The US stuck to the constitution and laws when assessing the Lisbon treaty. Its decision should be understood as a lesson it taught to many Czech politicians and as a defeat of the Eurosceptic Klaus, Uhl writes.

The US rebuked Klaus for opposing something his government and he in his then capacity as Czech prime minister pledged to promote while applying for EU entry in 1995, Uhl writes.

The US also criticised Klaus for having violated the rules of legal procedure by refusing to ratify the treaty immediately after it was approved by a crushing majority of votes in both houses of parliament, Uhl writes.

This arouses an impression that the president, who shows disrespect of the constitution and laws, is no longer capable to exercise his office, Uhl says.

He says the Lisbon's critics are right when they say Europe is heading towards a federal setup. "However, this is the only way for us to overcome the biggest trouble of Europe - the threat of a new Iron Curtain," he adds.

Lisbon's opponents are wrong when saying European integration is a process independent of Prague's will. The Czech state can give up more of its sovereignty only if this is approved by Czech parliament beforehand, Uhl points out.

"Let's hope that the outcome of the battle [over the Lisbon treaty] will save at least the remnants of our credibility and predictability in the eyes of Europe," Petr Honzejk writes in Hospodarske noviny, referring to the US verdict and Klaus's signature of the Lisbon treaty on Tuesday.

The last round of the battle showed that it was a battle over belief rather than rational arguments, Honzejk writes.

The US based its rejection of the senators' complaint on the belief that further integration will strengthen Czech state sovereignty. Klaus reacted by declaring his conviction that the Lisbon treaty will destroy Czech sovereignty, Honzejk writes.

The Czech Eurosceptics previously called themselves Eurorealists and labelled Eurooptimists as Eurofanatics. This enabled them to promote their belief using methods far beyond what was appropriate, Honzejk says.

A paradoxical effect of the senators' fierce battle against the treaty for the sake of Czech national sovereignty, allegedly threatened by Europe, is that they are pondering challenging the Czech US procedure at the European Court of Human Rights, Honzejk writes.

Autor: ČTK
www.ctk.cz