(BRUSSELS) - The future of the Europe Union's troubled reform treaty was put on hold until October at Friday's Brussels summit, after Czech doubts and a last-minute legal hurdle in Britain added to last week's referendum rejection in Ireland.

EU leaders, in a two-day summit in Brussels which they hoped would chart a course through the looming political storm, could only agree to give Ireland at least until October to come up with recommendations on the way ahead.

They could not even send a strong signal that the remaining nations will forge ahead with ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, in an effort to quarantine Ireland and apply added pressure for a new referendum there.

"I am not going to force MPs to back Lisbon (the treaty) and I would not bet 100 crowns (four euros) on a Czech yes," Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek told reporters.

Prague's parliamentary ratification was suspended in late April as it was going through the lower chamber, after the Senate demanded a constitutional court ruling on whether the treaty conforms with the Czech constitution.

In addition to this obstacle, the Czech Republic's eurosceptic President Vaclav Klaus had already insisted that the Irish vote had killed off the document, meant to help the EU operate more efficiently as it grows.

In the end, the leaders "agreed to Ireland's suggestion to come back to this issue at its meeting of 15 October, 2008 in order to consider the way forward."

They noted in a final communique devoid of forceful language that, although 19 EU member states have ratified the treaty, "more time was needed to analyse the situation."

The only reference to whether the seven countries besides Ireland that have not endorsed the treaty should forge ahead simply said: "The ratification process continues in the other countries."

As the summit drew to a close, a British court challenge for a referendum there threw a new spanner into the EU works, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown conceding that the treaty was invalid without a ruling.

"Ratification will not take place of course until we have had the judgement," he said.

A judge at London's High Court called on the British government to delay ratification until he ruled on a legal bid to force a referendum.

But Brown played down the problem, saying that Britain remains on its ratification track.

There is also a problem to be reckoned with in Poland.

Parliament there has endorsed the treaty but eurosceptic President Lech Kaczynski has delayed signing it, and may yet refuse to do so outright.

"The majority of Polish people are in favour of ratification. It's an argument that I hope the president will understand," Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.

The EU has been plagued for most of this decade by a failure to update its institutional rule book as more countries joined the bloc.

Were the treaty to die now -- the way the draft constitution did in referendums three years ago -- the EU would be left to limp along using the Nice Treaty signed by 15 leaders in 2001.

Despite EU expectations, embattled Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen conceded that he had not been able to give them any hopes to cling onto.

"I made it clear that however frustrating for them, it is still simply too early to know how we are going to move forward from this point," he said.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will travel to Ireland on July 11 to try to plot a strategy before an EU summit in October under France's chairmanship.

"Ireland is a problem, but if we have a second or third problem then it's really going to get difficult," he said.

The European leaders were keen to show that the real issues of the day, such as soaring oil prices and the environment, were not being put on hold by the institutional impasse.

Pressed by Britain, the EU nations threatened President Robert Mugabe's regime with more sanctions, seeking to exert pressure ahead of a run-off presidential vote in Zimbabwe.

But they failed to overcome divisions over how to ease the pain of the high oil prices, with France finding little support for proposed tax breaks on fuel.

European Council

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