Publication

By finally signing the Lisbon Treaty, Czech President Václav Klaus brought to an anti-climatic close years of protracted and often acrimonious negotiations to overhaul the European Union's institutional infrastructure. However frustrating and bruising the ratification experience may have been, it is hoped that the whole saga will have the unintended (but finally, positive) consequence of strengthening the determination of those wishing to ensure that the next round of treaty change can enter into force even if one or more member countries is not willing or able to agree to it.