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Loss leader

The European Union's failings offer Czechs an opportunity
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July 2nd, 2008 issue

By Bill Cohn

In less than six months, the Czech Republic will take on the European Union presidency, affording the country an opportunity to become a serious and respected player on the international stage. With the EU floundering in the wake of the Irish rejection of the Lisbon Treaty, Czechs should begin asserting their leadership through a set of simple but bold initiatives.

Why is the time ripe for Czech leadership? The Czechs are well-known Euroskeptics, and right now Europeans seem more skeptical than ever of the EU, viewing it as another layer of elite government bureaucracy — which people instinctively hate.

The June 19–20 Brussels summit was supposed to focus on pressing food, energy and climate concerns, but instead was overshadowed by the political crisis facing the EU after the Irish vote. With the Lisbon Treaty requiring approval by all 27 member states, the way forward has become legally and politically contentious, with no clear direction emerging from the Brussels summit.

While other European leaders search for an answer, Czech President Václav Klaus has pronounced the treaty dead, adding that liberty and reason defeated elitist plans and the European bureaucracy. For once, his Euroskepticism makes sense. Like the Danish and French rejection of the EU constitution in 2005, the Irish vote last month against a warmed-over version of the constitution confirms that the EU is perceived as having too much power over the lives of Europeans, and not enough accountability to them.

Brussels’ response to Ireland’s “no” vote was to pressure the Irish to vote again, and get it right this time (or be consigned to the lower tier of a two-tier Europe). Such bullying tactics make Europe’s demands for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe ring hollow, revealing how far the union has gone astray. Disrespecting the electorate further alienates people from the union. As The Economist noted in its June 19 issue, “It is both stupefyingly arrogant and anti-democratic to refuse to take no for an answer.”

Europeans are disheartened to see their leaders spinning their wheels on a European constitution while neglecting more pressing issues. This reinforces the perception that the EU is a government of the politicians, by the politicians and for the politicians (and their friends and sponsors). As such, it is the antithesis of the democratic ideals Europe espouses.

What can be done? The Czechs should assert leadership by holding a national referendum on the treaty, and then following it up with some bold initiatives to refashion the EU. Submitting the issue directly to the voters will enhance the quality of both Czech and European democracy — 11 EU governments promised to hold referendums on the treaty, yet 10 have failed to call one, and the Irish did only because their constitution required it. National referendums would also help the EU move past its inertial impasse, toward a more inclusive approach.

As the situation stands now, the Czech Senate has postponed voting on the treaty, essentially kicking the ball over to the country’s constitutional court. With prompting, the court could act and a referendum be held prior to Jan. 1, 2009, when the Czechs assume the EU presidency. All indications are that Czechs will reject the treaty. That would put Czech leaders in a position to initiate some sorely needed EU reforms: direct elections for key EU posts such as president of the European Commission and foreign affairs minister, a bicameral European Parliament in which the upper house is elected directly by the voters, the drafting of a succinct European Charter or Constitution rooted in common European values and reserving for the member states all rights not expressly delegated to the union.

Some 85 percent of the new laws passed in Europe over the past year came from EU institutions. Yet, voters cannot vote for or against the lawmakers or the laws. So it’s not surprising that Neil O’Brien, director of Open Europe, a British group opposed to the Lisbon Treaty, characterized the Irish vote as “a resounding victory on behalf of ordinary people across Europe over an out-of-touch and arrogant political elite.” He went on to assert, “If supporters of the EU constitution cannot even win in Ireland — one of the most pro-EU countries in Europe — it is clear that their vision for the future of Europe is now discredited in the most fundamental way.”

European voters have now said no three times to Europe’s poorly written and poorly understood proposed constitutions. One Irish voter called the 287-page Lisbon Treaty, purportedly designed to make the EU more transparent, “the most turgid, opaque, endless and incomprehensible sheaf of bureaucratic gobbledygook that I have ever attempted to read — the antithesis of the U.S. Bill of Rights.”

Madison and Jefferson’s ideals in the Federalist Papers are indeed missing from the Lisbon Treaty, and, realistically speaking, a United States of Europe is a long way off. But the Czech Charter of Fundamental Rights and Basic Freedoms offers a good starting point for a comprehensible and respected European constitution rooted in basic unifying principles and ideals.

Federalism is a difficult balancing act; at a minimum, it requires that people perceive they have a say in the decisions that affect their lives, and that their say will be respected. For European integration to succeed, it must be rethought rather than merely pushed forward. Czech Euroskepticism could help catalyze that process.

Ultimately, the EU will only be as democratic as its member states. The organization is, after all, essentially a club formed by governments. The 1957 Treaty of Rome, the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, the 2001 Treaty of Nice and the 2007 Lisbon Treaty all committed the member governments to the ever-closer integration of Europe. But Europeans themselves are far less committed. By treating the integration of Europe as a fait accompli rather than an inclusive, deliberative process, Europe’s leaders have put the cart before the horse. With a referendum staking out a bold leadership position, the Czechs can help make the EU more responsive and accountable to European voters.

As the saying goes, change begins at home. Europeans can demand more of the EU only by demanding more of their national governments. By calling for a referendum on the radar base, Czechs citizens put pressure on their government and exposed deep flaws in Czech politics. There has not been, nor is there likely to be, a radar referendum. Yet the protests may yield other dividends. Democracy is not tidy, but power concedes nothing without a demand, and the engagement of civic society is vital to the democratic process.

Czechs have long played the jokers — waffling, foot-dragging fence-sitters, the proverbial fly in the ointment. Their politicians’ reputation as half-hearted participants in the EU is well-earned. And Messrs. Topolánek, Paroubek, Schwarzenberg and Vondra continue to send mixed signals on the Lisbon Treaty. But they now have a grand chance to lead the way to find solutions, rather than just complain about problems.

We should demand nothing less.

— Bill Cohn, an attorney and constitutional law scholar, teaches at the University of New York in Prague. He is a frequent contributor to The Prague Post on issues of law and policy.

Reader's comments:

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[14:38 08/07/2008] : Letter to the Editor
The Prague Post
July 8, 2008
Re: "Rice expected in Prague to sign radar treaty," July 2.

When a majority of the Czech people (some 68 percent) overwhelmingly oppose the construction of this base on their territory, it seems obvious that US leaders should respect the will of the Czech people and cancel their plans. This radar base will merely cause the Czech republic to become yet another target and pawn in what is shaping up to be a New Cold War (just as in the Old Cold War) and will be an expensive undertaking for the increasingly economically destitute United States. It will also provoke a new arms race with Russia and may encourage Russia to build it's own anti-missile radar bases near the United States in e.g. Cuba and Venezuela.
America will regain lost friends only by rebuilding trust and not stoking embers of fear and paranoia from long ago.

Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Pravica

Dr. Michael Pravica
Henderson, Nevada, USA

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