Czech President Signs E.U. Reform Treaty

(PRAGUE) — Czech President Vaclav Klaus has signed the EU reform treaty, completing the ratification process of a charter designed to transform Europe into a more unified and powerful global player.

Klaus, widely known as a Euro-skeptic, says he signed the Lisbon Treaty at the Prague Castle at 3 p.m. (1400 GMT), just hours after his nation's Constitutional Court ruled that the document, which already has been ratified by all other EU nations, does not violate the country's constitution. (See a TIME video about what you need to know about Prague.)

Klaus said he respects the court decision, even though he does not agree with it.

Before signing the charter, EU leaders agreed last week to Klaus' last-minute demand — an opt-out from the treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights. (Read "The Next Step for the E.U.")

"The decision clears the way for President Vaclav Klaus to sign and finalize the ratification of the treaty and I am very confident he will do so," Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament said earlier. "The Treaty of Lisbon should now enter into force by the end of the year."

Failure of the treaty would have sent the E.U. into an unprecedented crisis. Negotiators say its reforms — creating a new E.U. president post, giving more power to the foreign policy chief and streamlining E.U. decision-making — are needed to make the E.U. more effective.

Last week, E.U. leaders agreed to Klaus' last-minute demand — an opt-out from the treaty's Charter of Fundamental Rights in return for his signing of it. Klaus said he was not planning to make any further demands.

The Czech leader asked for the option over worries of property claims by ethnic Germans stripped of their land and expelled after World War II.

But it was considered Klaus had used the demand for the opt-out to try to scuttle ratification of the treaty, which he opposes. He fears the treaty would hand over too many national powers to E.U. institutions in Brussels.

Both houses of the Czech Parliament already have ratified the treaty.

Associated Press writers Robert Wielaard and Constant Brand in Brussels contributed to this report.

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