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Home » Archives » Business

Early disputes test EU presidency

Czechs and French unite in support of small businesses

July 9th, 2008 issue

By Claire Compton

VLADIMÍR WEISS/THE PRAGUE POST
Sarkozy's criticism of EU officials revealed potential clashes in policy.
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Triple presidency facts



In 2007, the EU adopted a new model aimed at dealing with the time constraints of the six-month posts:
Three successive presidencies, a mix of older and newer EU members, now work together for 18 months on established goals. Presidencies do not overlap and remain separate
The first such triplet was Germany, Portugal and Slovenia, beginning Jan. 1, 2007, and ending with the hand-off to France July 1
France, the Czech Republic and Sweden are the second trio, and have prioritized defense integration and Kosovo on their agenda

Staff Writer
Less than two weeks into France’s European Union presidency, cracks are beginning to show in policies that will be handed off to the Czechs come Jan. 1. Comments from the leadership of both countries suggest that positions are already being staked out to advance or protect individual economic interests rather than common goals. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has already raised the ire of other member states with his staunch defense of agricultural subsidies, which the Czech Republic will likely not support.
Rather than a simple handover of the presidency, France, the Czech Republic and Sweden are intertwined in a relatively new model for the post that connects three countries at a time in an 18-month “team presidency.” The first attempt at this model recently wrapped with Slovenia, whose triplet presidency was shared with Germany and Portugal.
While the countries ostensibly collaborate on priorities for the year and half, the posts remain separate, and countries are not strictly bound by agreements with the other two.
At the moment, the biggest difference is Sarkozy’s advocacy of a stronger EU, while the Czechs are noted Euroskeptics. But that isn’t necessarily a concern, according to Jan Karlas of Charles University’s Institute of International Relations. Rather than reshaping any ongoing efforts and policies, he said, the Czechs are more likely to use their term in office to focus attention on issues of particular concern in this country.
“It gives [the Czech Republic] some tools to play down some issues and highlight others closer to its national interests — one of which could be the removal of barriers on free movement of workers,” Karlas said.
In particular, the EU Presidency could allow Czech officials to put additional pressure on Germany and Austria, the remaining countries with labor restrictions on Czech workers, according to comments made by Labor and Social Affairs Minister Petr Nečas. While other EU members, including France, accelerated the date for removing restrictions against Czechs, Germany and Austria have remained committed to holding off until 2011. France opened its markets to Czech workers July 1.
In the wake of such changes, Nečas promised that Germany would “not have it easy with us during our presidency” at a May 31 Czech-German discussion forum.
While the new trio — France, the Czech Republic and Sweden — have met and published a comprehensive list of priorities for the next 18 months, it remains to be seen which issues will actually have the most convergence. Already, Sarkozy’s strong push for the struggling Lisbon Treaty has been countered by President Václas Klaus’ unwillingness to endorse ratification. And other differences remain that may or may not be resolved.
One stumbling block Karlas anticipates is the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which Sarkozy has said must not be reduced in the EU budget. Sarkozy began France’s presidency with accusations levied at EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, charging him with paving the way for reducing farm output and food exports. But, as Karlas noted, not all EU members may be in favor of maintaining the CAP, including the Czechs.
“The current [Czech] government would be in favor of reducing that part of the EU budget on CAP, while traditionally policy spending is what one might expect of France,” he said. And, while the Czechs wouldn’t necessarily favor reducing the budget as a whole, they would “support a shift within the budget from some items to others.”
One issue that appears to have a strong commitment from both France and the Czech Republic is fostering small to midsize businesses, which Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexandr Vondra called the “main source of economic growth” in Europe. Already the Justice Ministry has announced a draft Commercial Code that would overhaul the business start up process, bringing it closer to European policies, with significantly smaller start up costs and more flexible management structures in joint-stock companies.
Vondra said a key goal of the Czech EU presidency would be to “reduce the administrative burden on small and medium enterprises [SMEs].”
The move is in step with the established objectives of the France-Czech Republic-Sweden team, published by the EU Council on June 30. That report’s SME Policy includes a commitment to not only fostering small business growth, but encouraging cross-border trade and even granting administrative exceptions to EU legislation. The small-business sector is viewed as a framework for larger economic policies as well.
“SMEs play a key role in ensuring sustainable growth and jobs in Europe,” the policy states, adding that the attitude for future legislation should be “think small first.”
Another opportunity the EU presidency affords is the added weight it can bring to policy decisions, such as Slovenia’s recent recognition of Kosovo. As the final third of the first triplet presidency, Slovenia made the decision following a trend in Europe to recognize the Balkan state, but by no means had overwhelming support.
It’s still too soon to tell whether the new 18-month model will be a long-term success, Karlas said.
“The debate is only starting,” he noted. “Generally speaking, this first trail demonstrated that the concept can work and is useful.” Still, he added a note of caution. “On the other hand, we did not always see coordination, especially with the recognition of Kosovo’s independence,” he said. “When it came to Slovenia, we saw some differences over this issue.”
Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com


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