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Vaclav Klaus, the only European Union leader who has still not
signed the document, said he could not wait for a British general
election next year which could lead to a Tory government and a possible
referendum to bury the Treaty.
Mr Klaus said: "The train carrying the treaty is going so fast
and it's so far that it can't be stopped or returned, no matter how
much some of us would want that."
His remarks devastated Conservative MPs and eurosceptic
campaigners who have been clinging to the hope that he might be able to
go on delaying ratification of the Treaty until the election next year.
Tory MPs last night called on David Cameron to urgently
clarify the party's position on whether it would still offer the
British people a referendum.
Mr Klaus, who angered EU partners when he further delayed the
ratification process by asking for an opt-out on the treaty earlier
this month, said he still did not see the document as a good thing for
"freedom in Europe."
But in an interview with the "Lidove noviny" newspaper in the
Czech Republic, he said: "I cannot and will not wait for British
elections, unless they hold them in the next few days or weeks."
He will, however, have to wait for the verdict of the Czech
Constitutional Court on the treaty's compliance with the Czech
constitution, which is expected on 27 October.
The Treaty, which brings in closer EU co-operation and
streamlines governance in the 27-nation bloc, must be ratified by all
EU members to take effect. Ireland voted to ratify the Treaty earlier
this month, despite having said No in a previous referendum.
Mr Cameron has repeatedly said that even if the Treaty is
ratified he "won't let matters rest there". But he has so far refused
to spell out what this would entail, and whether he would still offer a
referendum on Lisbon or stage a different attempt to repatriate powers
from Brussels.
Philip Hollobone, Conservative MP for Kettering, said Mr
Klaus's decision was "hugely disappointing." He said: "Every
Conservative voter wanted him to wait 'til the election but the issue
of Britain's relationship with Europe is not going to go away.
"If the Treaty completes its ratification process everyone
will be expecting clarification of what the Conservative position will
be."
Philip Davies, the Conservative MP for Shipley, said there was
now little point to a referendum on Lisbon and he called on Mr Cameron
to stage a vote instead on repatriating powers from Brussels.
"If the Treaty is fully ratified I have never believed there
is any point in having a referendum on it. It would be futile gesture
politics. But I think the public do deserve a referendum on our
relationship with Europe.
"From my perspective that would ideally be an "in or out"
referendum. But what David Cameron could also do is set out clearly
which powers he wants to return to Westminster and hold a referendum on
that. If the British public supported that he could take that as a
negotiating position to the EU."
