Klaus insists on amendments to Lisbon Treaty before ratification

Open Europe reports that Klaus seeks an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty  (a leader in the Economist describes the Lisbon Treaty as "deeply shabby"). with regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which angers EU politicos as he will not specify the amendments he seeks. Presumably, he's playing his cards close to his chest so that the politicos cannot rubbish his bid or counter it with its usual obfuscations, half-truths, outright lies and cannot therefore discredit him.

Open Europe sums it up, thus:

The Times reports that Czech President Vaclav Klaus has demanded an amendment to the Lisbon Treaty, which could pose a further delay to ratification. Klaus is seeking unspecified guarantees on the Charter of Fundamental Rights - the declaration being incorporated into EU law by the Treaty.

Polish daily Rzeczpospolita quotes a Czech source saying, "We have expertise, which shows that in accordance with the Charter it will be possible to reclaim property rights in Czech Republic. We cannot allow judges from Malta or Spain, who know nothing about our history, to decide whether Sudeten Germans have right to their property."

The article notes that Klaus' move has sparked anger in other EU capitals, with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner saying, "We are not going to change the Lisbon treaty. It has been approved by the Czech parliament and by the Czech senate in the precise terms in which everybody has accepted it." Swedish Prime Minister and holder of the EU Presidency Fredrik Reinfeldt said, "I spoke by phone today with President Klaus. I told him this is the wrong message at the wrong time for the EU. I told him clearly it is his ink on the paper that counts, and I do not want this to delay the treaty going through as soon as possible." The Independent quotes Reinfeldt saying, "We need clarification on exactly what he is asking for...As I understand, it's linked to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It's a footnote, but he didn't define it."

Meanwhile, after a series of contradictory statements over Polish plans to sign the Treaty, several newspapers report that the Polish President Lech Kaczynski will sign it this Saturday. The Polish President's Chief of Staff, Wladyslaw Stasiak, made the announcement on TVN24 yesterday: "The president will sign the treaty on Saturday at noon".

Update:

Vanessa Mock in Brussels adds a few more tasty morsels to the woes of the Eurofanatics.  Do read this!

Update:

And if you think the EU is really concerned about "climate change", then why is it colluding with the logging industry to downgrade the protection of rain forests - which, after all, absorbs C0₂?

The Irish Times reports that the EU has been accused of changing the text of the current REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) agreement after lobbying from the logging industry. This means "[...] that the industry could continue logging old forests, accelerating climate change", said Greenpeace's forest policy expert, Grant Rosoman.

Unscrupulous in the extreme - money changing hands, no doubt, between politicos and loggers.