(Repeats story published late on Sunday)
* President demands binding guarantee on EU treaty-aide
* Aide says Irish-style guarantees not good enough
By Jan Lopatka
PRAGUE, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus will
demand a strong and binding guarantee that the EU's Lisbon
Treaty does not destabilise property rights before he signs the
pact, his aide said on Sunday.
Klaus is the last head of state in the 27-nation EU that
stands in the way of ratification of the new treaty, aimed at
streamlining decision-making in the bloc and giving it a greater
role on the world scene.
The long-time critic of the treaty stunned EU partners as
well as the Czech cabinet this week by demanding that the Czechs
negotiate a partial exemption from the pact, similar to those
earlier negotiated by Britain and Poland.
Klaus said he was worried the treaty may open the way for
property claims by Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after
World War Two. The government said its legal analysis showed the
fears were groundless.
But Klaus's aide Ladislav Jakl said on Sunday the president
demanded a binding guarantee, and a political declaration by the
EU, an easier way forward, would not be sufficient.
"The president will not be satisfied by any declaration, but
only guarantees for every citizen," Jakl said in a live
television debate.
"For him, this condition is fundamental, necessary,
unbreachable."
The treaty would give the EU a long-term president and a
beefed-up foreign representative, and take away national vetoes
in some areas.
Klaus says it would create a European superstate that gives
too much power to Brussels and big member states, and has so far
refused to ratify it even though parliament has approved it.
Klaus's stance has further antagonised partners of the
central European country which lost some clout when its
government fell midway through the Czech term as EU president in
March.
IRISH WAY NOT GOOD ENOUGH
Jakl said Klaus could not be satisfied with a declaration
similar to that which the EU adopted to assuage Irish fears that
the treaty would touch upon Irish neutrality, taxes and abortion
rules.
"This (Irish way) seems to me as an absolutely impossible
way forward," Jakl said.
This stance is a further obstacle, because a declaration is
much easier to achieve than a legally binding guarantee.
Jakl did not specify what form of guarantees Klaus demanded.
The government, led by interim Prime Minister Jan Fischer,
said it would discuss how to tackle Klaus's demand on Monday.
The EU is in a hurry to complete ratification because it
needs to appoint a new executive, the European Commission, under
the new rules and aims to have the treaty in place by January.
If Klaus drags ratification beyond a British election
expected in May next year, the treaty will face the danger of
defeat in a referendum promised by the Conservatives if they win
power.
