EU paving the way for 'European empire'

European Union leaders have cleared a major obstacle holding up the massive Lisbon reform treaty, paving the way for a new-look EU with its first-ever president.

At talks in Brussels, the leaders approved a proposal to satisfy a last-minute demand by Czech President Vaclav Klaus for his country to win an opt-out from the EU's charter of fundamental rights.

The Czech Republic is the only one of the 27 EU nations, which has not ratified the treaty — which some critics say is a threat to the sovereignty of member-states', and will turn the bloc into “an empire the size of Europe.”

"I am happy to say that the European Council, this evening, has been able to take a decision and agree on what has been asked for by the Czech government and the Czech president," said Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt.

"We have moved the last political obstacle to ratification," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, after a summit working dinner.

Klaus angered his EU partners when he sought an opt-out from the treaty three weeks ago, after Prague's parliament had already ratified it, in what his critics took as a fresh attempt to delay its adoption.

The move was to ensure the treaty will not allow ethnic Germans forced out of the former Czechoslovakia after World War II, for Nazi collaboration, to reclaim their property.

The last technical obstacle remains a court appeal against the treaty by a group of Czech parliamentarians, many from the party Klaus founded. The Czech Constitutional Court is set to rule on it on November 3.

With the Czech problem out of the way, attention has also turned to candidates to become the first EU president, with former British premier Tony Blair a front-runner, along with Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker.