The Czech Republic's top court opened a hearing Tuesday to assess the compliance of the European Union's Lisbon treaty with the country's constitution following a complaint filed by Euro-skeptic senators.

The hearing, in which the constitutional court will deal with a complaint motivated by fears that the treaty will give too much power to Brussels, is one of the last hurdles the treaty must clear to take effect.

The complaint echoes concerns voiced by Euro-skeptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, the last EU leader holding out on signing the text that aims to streamline EU decision-making and must be ratified by all 27 member states to take effect.

Klaus has repeatedly said he would wait for the court verdict before he signs.

He also angered the EU when he asked for an opt-out from the treaty’s “charter of rights” three weeks ago, in what his critics took as another attempt to delay the ratification. The opt-out, designed to make sure the treaty will not allow ethnic Germans forced out of former Czechoslovakia for alleged World War II collaboration with the Nazis to claim back their property, will be on the table for an EU Council meeting in Brussels on Oct. 29 to 30.

The constitutional court case, however, has no time limit on the case and delayed the verdict untill Nov. 3, reported Agence-Presse France late Tuesday.

"The EU has been waiting in suspense for Klaus' signature, the last step in the Czech ratification process after local lawmakers approved the treaty earlier this year.

With the current impasse, European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, who won a second five-year term last month, is unable to nominate a new commission, because it is unclear what legal basis he should use.

The mandate of the current commission, the EU's executive body that draws up legislation impacting the lives of about half a billion Europeans and policing the application of EU laws, expires at the end of the month.

Before awaiting the verdict of the Czech constitutional court, EU leaders have begun debating the new presidency position implied in the Lisbon treaty.

Swedish commissioner Margot Wallstrom said it was time to appoint a woman. "I think it should be a woman," said Wallstrom.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has presented himself as a suitable candidate. In response, objections were raised principally by Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, who say the job should only go to a country that uses the euro single currency and is in the border-free Schengen zone