EU trades treaty guarantees with Czech president[fr][de] 

Klaus, a staunch Eurosceptic, wants a permanent exemption from the Charter of Fundamental Rights for the Czech Republic. The charter, Klaus claims, would enable ethnic Germans expelled after World War II to file property claims at the European Court of Justice, in spite of the EU's assurances that the charter would not apply retrospectively. 

EU leaders agreed to give the Czech Republic the guarantees its president had requested, but they also insisted that Klaus sign the ratification text without delay. 

The Czech Constitutional Court is expected to lift the final hurdle to the treaty's ratification tomorrow (27 October). 

The exact form that such a guarantee will take is unclear even to insiders, however. Diplomats were only willing to say they needed to report to their capitals that both sides were bound by obligations. 

The intricate give-and-take over guarantees will be on the menu of a two-day EU foreign affairs ministers' meeting, which starts in Luxembourg today (26 October). 

Klaus has already signalled that he is satisfied with a proposal by the Swedish EU Presidency addressing his demands to modify the bloc's reform treaty (EurActiv 23/10/09). 

A counsellor to the Czech president is expected to arrive in Luxembourg on the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, sources told EurActiv. Meanwhile in Prague, European Affairs Minister Štefan Füle said that the exact form the arrangement accommodating Klaus is being discussed at the highest political level, EurActiv Czech Republic reported. 

The ministerial meeting will prepare for the EU summit in Brussels on 29-30 October, which in principle is expected to discuss the top jobs created by the Lisbon Treaty, including the appointment of the first permanent Council president and the first high representative for foreign affairs. But it remains unclear how far they can go in this direction, given the fact that the Lisbon Treaty is not yet in force. 

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband threw down the gauntlet by saying on Sunday that it would be "very good for Europe" if former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair became president of the EU. He also ruled himself out of the running for the post of high representative for foreign affairs. 

"I am not a candidate for that. I am not available," he told the BBC, adding that he was "committed" to his current job. 

Miliband added that the positions could be filled "relatively swiftly" once the Czech Republic had approved the treaty.