Meerderheid van Tsjechen voor Verdrag volgens opiniepeiling (en)
A majority of Czechs want their parliament to ratify the Lisbon Treaty, according to a poll published on Wednesday (28 January).
The number of those in favour of the treaty has grown among followers of all political parties and reached 64 percent – an increase of 19 percent compared to October, according to survey publisher STEM polling.
The Czechs' opinion is not necessarily linked to their knowledge of the document, however, which remains weak – 70 percent of those asked stated they still do not understand what changes the treaty would bring and what impact it would have on their lives.
Instead, the number of those against the document has been progressively decreasing out of fear that the country would lose of its "prestige" if it does not approve the charter, STEM has said, Czech news agency CTK reports.
The Czech Republic currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency and both those who understand the treaty and those who do not have said this fact raises their country's profile in Europe.
This could explain their current stronger support for the Lisbon Treaty, the STEM analysts explain.
The Czech Republic is also the only EU country that has held neither a referendum nor a parliamentary vote on the Treaty yet.
Parliamentary ratification has already been delayed by several months, while the Czech Constitutional Court decided whether the document is compatible with Czech law.
But despite the Court's positive verdict in November, the process has not advanced.
Most recently, an early February vote by the foreign affairs committee in the parliament was postponed to 15 February because it said it needed more time to examine the text.
Besides the Czech Republic, three countries – Ireland, Germany and Poland – have yet to finalise ratification of the Lisbon Treaty.
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