RPT-Czech court expected to lift last barrier to EU treaty

                                
 (Repeats story published early today)
 * President Klaus expected to sign soon after
                                
 * Pact could come into force in January
                                
 
                                
 By Jan Lopatka
                                
 PRAGUE, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The Czech Constitutional Court is
expected to throw out a complaint against the EU's Lisbon treaty
on Tuesday, removing the last obstacle to its ratification.
                                
 Such a ruling would allow eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus
to sign the treaty, which will give the EU its first long-term
president and streamline decision-making in the bloc of 27
states and nearly half a billion people.
                                
 The Czech Republic is the only EU member state that has not
yet ratified the pact, which needs the consent of all member
states to come into force.
                                
 Klaus is banned by law from signing it until the court rules
on a complaint by Klaus's allies in the Czech upper house of
parliament, the Senate, who argue the treaty would erode
national sovereignty.
                                
 Lawyers have mostly dismissed the claims and predicted the
court will declare the treaty in line with the Czech
constitution. It has already thrown out a complaint against
specific points of the treaty.
                                
 The court in the city of Brno, 200 km (125 miles) southeast
of Prague, was expected to open Tuesday's session at 9 a.m.
(0800 GMT) and release its verdict during the day.
                                
 Klaus long argued against the Lisbon Treaty, saying it would
turn the EU into a superstate with little democratic control.
                                
 But he said he would raise no further obstacles to the
document after EU leaders agreed last week to give the Czechs an
opt-out from a rights charter attached to the treaty. Klaus says
the exemption is necessary to avoid property claims by Germans
expelled from Czechoslovakia after World War Two. [ID:nLT337487]
                                
 If the court clears the treaty and Klaus signs it soon, as
expected, it will come into force in January.
                                
 EU leaders failed to agree at their summit last week in
Brussels on who the new EU president should be, and a special
summit may be needed to reach an agreement.
                                
 The chances of the once-favoured candidate, former British
prime minister Tony Blair, seem doomed after he failed to win an
endorsement from the European Socialists, his Labour Party's
allies. [ID:nLU584151]
                                
 No front-runner has emerged, but possible contenders include
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, former Finnish prime
minister Paavo Lipponen and Luxembourg Prime Minister
Jean-Claude Juncker. [ID:nLT673586] 
 - For FACTBOX on EU's Lisbon Treaty, click on [ID:nL0338354]
 - For FACTBOX on EU'as rights charter, click on [ID:nL975785]
 - For FACTBOX on possible EU president click on [ID:nLT673586]
 - For FACTBOX on foreign policy chief click on [ID:nLS699073]
 (Editing by Andrew Roche)