The Czech Republic’s 15-judge Constitutional Court has returned a verdict that will allow EU governments to breathe freely again – the EU’s Lisbon Treaty is not unconstitutional.

Shortly after 9 a.m., the court rejected the petition by 17 Czech senators which had delayed ratification.

“The Lisbon Treaty is neither in its entirety, nor in the points that a group of senators have attacked, in contravention of the Czech Republic’s Constitution,” the court said.

The court’s rejection of the complaint was the final hurdle that EU sceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who has previously said that the Treaty “fatally limits Czech sovereignty”, had set in delaying his signature to the Treaty.

Klaus signature has been last obstacle preventing ratification of the Treaty in all 27 EU states. He has, however, promised to sign off on the Treaty if the Constitutional Court determined that the Treaty did not contravene the Czech Constitution.