(Repeats story published late on Wednesday)
* Czech PM sees deal on Irish guarantees before EU summit
* Says new commission chief may be found at summit
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, June 3 (Reuters) - The European Union will be able
to provide Ireland this month with the guarantees it seeks to
hold a new referendum on reforming the European Union, the Czech
prime minister said on Wednesday.
The Czechs hold the rotating EU presidency until the end of
June and Prime Minister Jan Fischer said he saw the EU foreign
ministers completing a deal on the Irish guarantees so that EU
heads of state can rubber-stamp them at their June 18-19 summit.
Irish voters rejected the Lisbon treaty, meant to streamline
decision-making in the EU after its expansion over the past five
years, in a referendum last year, derailing the project.
The government plans to hold a new vote but requires that
the Irish are given safeguards that will protect their national
sovereignty on issues like taxes and military neutrality, and
that they will be able to retain a seat on the European
Commission, the EU's executive body.
Fischer is a non-partisan former statistician who took his
job last month after the previous cabinet of Mirek Topolanek
collapsed in March, halfway through the Czechs' EU presidency.
The government fall undermined the Czechs' role and sparked
unease around Europe about a lack of leadership amid a deep
global economic crisis.
But Fischer said he found support in EU capitals and was
confident he would succeed in key tasks including Ireland.
"The work is running so (well) that not only in relation
with the Irish side but also (other) member states, that it will
be possible to reach conclusions at the foreign ministers'
council," on June 15-16 ahead of the leader's summit.
NEW COMMISSION CHIEF
Fischer said he would meet EU chiefs after the European
Parliament election this weekend gives signs on who could lead
the commission for the next five years.The parliament approves
the European Commission.
He said he would visit Germany, future EU president Sweden,
Britain and France, among other capitals, and added the new
commission chief could be picked at the June summit.
The Czech national position is to back current President
Jose Manuel Barroso of Portugal, a conservative who won a boost
from Germany's Social Democrats who said last week the European
left should not try to push its own candidate.
The European People's Party and European Democrats (EPP-ED),
a centre-right group, are widely expected to remain the main
force in the parliament although the Party of European
Socialists (PES) could gain seats, opinion polls suggest.
Czech presidency goals include energy security projects such
as the Nabucco pipeline that should bring gas from the Caspian,
but Fischer could not guarantee an inter-government agreement on
the deal would be signed by the end of June as planned.
"We all know how demanding and complex a problem this is,"
Fischer said. "Now the original optimism which pointed to the
end of June is at stake. If it is not done at the end of June,
the world will not collapse, it is necessary to continue
patiently."
Turkey, a key transit country, said on Wednesday it still
demanded that it gets 15 percent of the gas pumped through
Nabucco, but it still hoped for a deal in June [].
(For related story on economic issues click on []
