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The subtle art of diplomacy

Czechs face European Union test in run-up to assuming presidency
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April 23rd, 2008 issue

By Martin Stašek

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Czech officials will have a lot to think about when the country takes the helm of the Council of the European Union from France Jan. 1. The Czech Republic will navigate the union of 27 member states through the seas of European and international politics before handing the ship over to Sweden in July 2009.

Some very hot items are expected to be on the agenda of the Czech presidency, as it’s called by EU member states, in the first six months of 2009.

For one thing, Czech officials could be the first ones to implement provisions of the Lisbon Treaty, including hiring a permanent president.

As we all know, the Lisbon Treaty is the successor to the EU Constitution Treaty of 2005, which ran into roadblocks when it failed to win approval in national referendums in France and the Netherlands.

The ratification process this time around could go either way, but it’s expected to be decided by December 2008. At this moment, nobody dares speculate what would follow should one or more member states not ratify the treaty. But, whatever happens, it’s likely to come under the Czech watch.

Then there are other items — such as the energy and climate package, further regulation of the telecommunications market, budget reform and a reform of the common agricultural policy.

It’s no surprise then that the presidency is increasingly talked about in the Czech media.

Most of the time, however, pundits seem to think of it in terms of some future exercise that remains a bit of a mystery. They seem to know that it requires long and careful preparation, a lot of government officials, and a fair knowledge of French.

Indeed, Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek’s government will need all of this and more to pull it off.

Presidency, first and foremost, is an extensive exercise in logistics. During the six-month period, hundreds of meetings of varying significance take place, and it is the role of the presiding country officials to chair and coordinate a substantial number of them.

These include at least one meeting of the European Council (also known as a European summit, where heads of states or government gather to discuss the major issues facing the European Union) and the meetings of the Council of the European Union — known also as the council of ministers — composed of ministers of governments of the member countries.

Also chaired by the presidency are many informal councils, all of the meetings of governments’ permanent representatives (referred to in EU jargon as Coreper I & II) and other lower level meetings.

To make this task even more exciting, some of the above rendezvous take place in the EU’s usual working places, Brussels and Luxembourg, but many are held in the presiding country.

That’s when the Czech government will get a chance to showcase the country. It has already announced that meetings will take place both in Prague and out in the regions.

All the issues related to organization of such meetings, ranging from transport and interpretation to security, are sometimes dwarfed by another related task, that of chairing the meetings. Those will be a great test in the subtle art of diplomacy.

For six months, Czech government officials (including the prime minister, ministers and senior ministry officials) will chair all of these meetings. This is certainly not easy with 27 member states and 23 official languages. It gets even worse when a difficult issue comes up, such as the Kosovo independence question that the Slovenian presidency is facing right now.

On top of that, the presiding member state is in a delicate position, since it has to juggle two tasks — that of acting as an independent president and that of being one of the 27 member states with its own agenda.

For the duration of the presidency, the presiding member state is expected to sideline its own position and act as a neutral president, whose ambition is to reach consensus among the member states and move the EU agenda forward. This is a major challenge that requires a lot of diplomatic experience and talent.

In the case of the Czech Republic, it might also prove to be quite difficult.

Maintaining neutrality on the issue of climate change, for example, will be complicated. In the case of the Czech Republic, there also will be an extra portion of excitement provided by an elevated amount of skepticism, in certain circles, to both climate change and to the EU.

Another role of the presiding country is to represent the council in negotiations with other EU institutions, namely the European Commission and the European Parliament. Finding one’s way in the seemingly endless couloirs of the two bodies is essential, as the European Commission is where all EU legislation is proposed, and Parliament is where much of it gets approved.

As the elections to the European Parliament are scheduled for June 2009, Czech presidency officials will not be able to count on full availability of the members of the European Parliament, who will probably prefer to focus on campaigning to secure their seats for another term.

The presiding member state also represents the European Union in international organizations such as the United Nations, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as in international conferences, forums and initiatives.

Together with the European Commission and the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the presidency also represents the European Union in negotiations with nonmember states.

To make the list of tasks complete, a small one needs to be added — running the country.

What can we expect once the six-month toil is over?

Apart from a loud sigh of relief from all officials involved, there is a chance for the country in charge to score some major points.

In the first place, the presidency puts the country on the map of the EU and, in some cases, of the world. While the Czech Republic has been a member of the EU since 2004, it did not rank, until recently, among the member states most frequently mentioned in relation to the EU agenda.

However, Czechs will soon be shaping that agenda and will certainly get into the spotlight of international media while doing so. They will get a chance to prove that the new member states are full-fledged members of the union.

Secondly, they will have an opportunity to show the country to a rare breed of seasoned decision makers and opinion makers. During the presidency, the country will host hundreds of diplomats and an army of international media. All of these people will go back home with impressions to share, which may make up for a lot of advertising that hasn’t been spent yet abroad.

Last, but not least, a successful presidency brings a boost of confidence. For new member states, this is perhaps the most important outcome. Passing the test will remove the label of “newcomer” and contribute to the “ever-closer union,” as the treaty puts it.

Let’s see how close we’ll get in 2009.

— The author is the spokesman of the Representation of the European Commission in the Czech Republic.

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[11:07 28/04/2008] : What a refreshing and well-written article. After reading this, I am certainly looking forward to the Czech Republic taking on the EU presidency in the first few months of 2009.

Margot Parker
Kettering UK

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