Swedish PM hails 'very important' EU treaty signing
(WASHINGTON) - Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, who holds the EU presidency, hailed Tuesday the signing of the bloc's long-awaited reform treaty in the Czech Republic, the final holdout country.
"I am very satisified that we finally have the ratification process coming to an end," Reinfeldt he told AFP after Czech President Vaclav Klaus became the last European Union leader to sign the landmark document into law.
"It's very important," Reinfeldt said during a visit to Washington.
"Europe has been waiting for this for a long time. It's been a process over many years to get a better functioning Europe with a stronger voice in the world -- more democratic, better functioning, more efficient," he said.
The final ratification unties the 27-nation EU's hands to appoint a new European Commission -- its executive arm -- as well as fill the freshly-created posts of president and foreign affairs supremo.
Text and Picture Copyright 2009 AFP. All other Copyright 2009 EUbusiness Ltd. All rights reserved. This material is intended solely for personal use. Any other reproduction, publication or redistribution of this material without the written agreement of the copyright owner is strictly forbidden and any breach of copyright will be considered actionable.
Webfeed
