EU/Poland

Polish president rejects Lisbon Treaty

Article published on the 2008-07-01 Latest update 2008-07-02 09:03 TU

Polish President Lech Kaczynski
Photo: Reuteurs

Lech Kaczynski, the Polish president, has announced that he will not sign the EU's Lisbon Treaty. The news came in an interview to be published in the online version of daily paper Dziennik, published on Tuesday. Kaczynski is quoted as saying that discussing the treaty is "pointless" following the Irish rejection of last month.

The Polish parliament voted to ratify the treaty in April, but still requires the signature of the president for full ratification.

The Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to streamline the EU's highly bureaucratic decision-making process, was rejected by Irish voters in a referendum on 12 June.

The treaty requires ratification by all 27 member-states to come into force. The vote dealt a blow to future plans for the union, but also to the French presidency, which begins today.

Kaczynski's decision not to sign deals another blow to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's ambitious plans for his first term as president of the union.

While Sarkozy was hoping to concentrate on issues which affect the everyday lives of European citizens, the question of the treaty leaves the union bogged down in institutional discussions once again.

The Czech Republic is also likely to be an obstacle to the ratification process, as President Vaclav Haus has already stated his opposition.

In a television interview on Monday night, the French president said that his first priority for his country's presidency was "to find a way to contain the problem to the Irish", to try and avoid a spread of eurosceptic sentiment to other member-states.

The Polish president warned EU leaders against trying to isolate or pressure Ireland.

"If one breaks the rule of unanimity one time, it will never exist again", he said. "We're not strong enough for this type of solution."