Mr Kaczynski had delayed signing pending the Irish referendum result


Poland to sign EU treaty in days

Page last updated at 07:48 GMT, Thursday, 8 October 2009 08:48 UK

Poland's President Lech Kaczynski will sign the EU's controversial Lisbon Treaty on Sunday, a top aide has said.

The Polish parliament has already approved the treaty, and of the 27 EU member states only Poland and the Czech Republic are yet to ratify Lisbon.

Mr Kaczynski, a Eurosceptic, had said he would wait for the Irish voters' verdict before signing the treaty.

Ireland backed the treaty in a second referendum on 2 October. Lisbon is aimed at streamlining EU institutions.

"The president keeps his word. He said he will sign the treaty with no delays if the Irish say 'yes'. On Sunday he will sign the treaty," presidential aide Aleksander Szczyglo told Poland's TVN 24 channel.

Unlike Mr Kaczynski, Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his centre-right government strongly support Lisbon.

EU leaders are anxious to get the treaty fully ratified this year - well before UK elections next spring, which could see a triumph for Conservative leader David Cameron. Many in his party oppose Lisbon and are demanding a referendum on it.

EU governments see the treaty as fundamental to the 27-nation bloc's future success. Without it, they argue, the EU's decision-making processes will remain slow and cumbersome, because they date back to when the EU consisted of only 15 nations.

Opponents see Lisbon as part of a federalist agenda that threatens national sovereignty.

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welcome to the united states of europe (USE)

I wonder why people are so against it? Hasn't the EU given its members unprecedented prosperity in the last 60 years?

i am all into the economic integration. But not so much in favor of political

Why not?

The more Europe integrates the better.

because the north has different interests and problems than the south. An example is the skopiano , the germans and british have a really hard time understanding the problem and push to a solution we dont want.

As far as I know, Germany hasn`t recognized FYROM with their constitutional name.

Crete and Macedonia have wildly different problems. Does that mean that Crete and Macedonia should not belong to the Greek state?

Poland and the Czech republic have been nothing but nervous nellys since joining the EU..Piss them off and let Turkey in,at least someone with balls in the right place

be quiet you speak too much sense

EU is good, if it's a first step to global union. In that case, both political and economic integration are necessary.

If it becomes a new super state with borders even harder to cross than before, then it's not good, especially for countries like Greece and Cyprus which are its periphery, with no real influence on the central policies.