Czech senators to vote on EU's Lisbon Treaty Wednesday

(PRAGUE) - The Czech Republic will have the last chance to put some shine on its fumbled European Union presidency when its senators gather for a long-delayed vote on the EU's Lisbon Treaty on Wednesday.

A failure to approve the treaty would "be very unpleasant - it would sideline us within the EU," said Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek.

Tarnished by the fall of the centre-right cabinet in March, Prague's EU presidency would suffer another heavy blow if the upper house of parliament blocked the text designed to streamline decision-making in the 27-nation bloc.

"Most countries similar to ours would think we let them down," said Topolanek, whose cabinet will be replaced with a temporary government on May 8.

He added a 'no' vote would thwart the accession plans of EU hopefuls as it would become a pretext for many countries to stop the enlargement process.

Topolanek, who has turned from a eurosceptic into a supporter of the treaty, also said a failure to approve the text might send the Czech Republic, a former communist country, under the influence of "assertive" Russia again.

The Czech Republic, holding the six-month EU presidency until end-June, was the last country to hold a parliamentary vote or referendum on the treaty until the lower house of parliament passed it in February.

Topolanek's Civic Democrats (ODS), the strongest party in the senate, are split over the text -- they delayed its approval by the lower house for months until it was passed in February.

The party has subjected the treaty, which must be ratified by all EU member countries to take effect, to a constitutional lawsuit and to hours of speeches and postponements in parliament.

But ODS senator Jiri Oberfalzer, one of the treaty's critics, said he expected senators to vote in favour on Wednesday.

"Topolanek has secured the votes required for approval," he told AFP.

"I think the Lisbon Treaty will make it through" the Senate on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra told Monday's edition of the Hospodarske noviny daily.

Vondra, also an ODS senator, is a vigorous supporter of the text.

In the upper house, the text needs a constitutional majority of three-fifths of all senators present -- a rule that has pushed some ODS senators to say they would leave the room for the vote to allow its passage.

But Oberfalzer also said several senators for his party were ready to file another constitutional complaint against the treaty after delaying ratification with a complaint last year.

The constitutional court ruled last November the treaty was in line with the constitution, but it only dealt with disputed articles of the treaty, leaving the door open for opponents to launch more challenges.

The verdict angered staunchly eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who said the treaty threatened Czech sovereignty.

If the senators pass the text, it remains for Klaus to put his signature to it and complete the ratification process.

Klaus has suggested he will delay ratification for as long as possible, following the example of Polish President Lech Kaczynski who is also reluctant to sign the treaty despite its endorsement by the Polish parliament.

All eyes will then swing back to Ireland, where the treaty -- designed to streamline EU decision-making in the wake of the bloc's enlargement -- is due to be put to a second referendum by November, following its shock rejection by voters there last year.

Building on earlier EU treaties, the Lisbon Treaty would notably create the position of a full-time president of the European Union, enhance the powers of the European Parliament and make the Charter of Fundamental Rights legally binding throughout the 27-nation bloc.