Utilizing French-style diplomacy

Franco-Czech Chamber of Commerce President Constantin Kinský speaks more passionately than most businessmen about the importance of culture and environmental stewardship, and he's noticeably proud of the French-style diplomacy his fellow countrymen invested in this country have used to engage the Czech government and create a more business-friendly and socially responsible environment. The Prague Post sat down with Kinský to talk about French business interests in the Czech Republic and the savoir-faire they bring to the table.

The Prague Post: The French company Areva is in the running for the ČEZ contract to expand the Temelín nuclear plant. Could this be the start of a broader French-Czech nuclear partnership?

Constantin Kinský: Personally, I'm very much an ecologist, and therefore I'm in favor of nuclear energy. It's an important component of our energy policy, but from a purely economic and industrial perspective, it's quite an opportunity for the Czech Republic. The engineering skills here are important, and there is a lot that can be done. It goes beyond just the reactors at Temelín, which has been a very transparent process. Nuclear energy comes and goes in terms of popularity, and there have been some tragic events from which lessons can be learned, but it's something that will continue to play a role.

TPP: You said the Temelín tender has been transparent, but that's not something tenders here are exactly known for. What do you view as the biggest corruption risks in public procurement?

CK: One should remember that whenever there is a case of corruption, there is someone who is being corrupted and someone who is doing the corrupting. We hope the other side of these shady deals is under control. We have a duty to be beyond suspicion. The other issue is there is still a lot of small-scale corruption. But this goes beyond tenders. Governance, for example in the healthcare sector, is something that's also necessary for transparency, and that's being worked on.

TPP: Which other sectors need work, in your view?

CK: The forestry sector is something that is still being worked on. Czech forests are 65 percent owned by the state, and some of the services necessary for forest management are done by private companies. The tenders for these services have not been very transparent in the past. It's still a form of oligopoly, and it's poisoning the management of these forests. You have a de facto oligopoly on the sawmill side, so it's very important those in forest management stick together to get decent prices. It's very difficult to work together and get decent prices when you have a competitor who owns 65 percent of the forests and whose behavior is often erratic.

TPP:  Have you or your members been able to successfully engage the authorities on these or similar issues?

CK: The environmental protection law is a good example. When the EU environmental law needed to be integrated, the first draft of the Czech law we saw was totally wrong. According to the Czech interpretation, anybody could visit your garden in Prague and decide there is a certain type of butterfly there and declare your garden a natural reserve with no explanation. … As usual, EU law was used as an excuse to do what one wants. There was terrible tension between private owners and government officials who looked at each other thinking all private owners must be bad capitalists who want to destroy nature and all environmentalists must be eco-terrorists who must be shot on sight. Using the French model, we actually forced a discussion: to sit at the table and develop a solution that was rational and workable for everybody. The result was that the Czech Republic and France are the only two countries in the EU where each protected site in the country is clearly defined. This created clarity and commonality of goals. Even in the context of a country where everybody complains about bureaucracy, you can still negotiate and have a rational discussion to achieve something that is truly unique. It's an example of what can happen when the French and the Czech geniuses combine.

TPP: The Czech Republic has a lot of appeal for foreign investors - good infrastructure, a competitive labor market, a skilled work force - but the same argument can be made for other CEE countries. What sets this country apart?

CK: Living culture is extremely important. The state plays a really important role. We haven't as a country chosen between the American model where private enterprises and individuals support culture through donations or the French model, where the state acts as the leader. We pretend we want the American model, but we haven't really accepted the consequences of this in terms of taxation. Secondly, it's very easy to finance walls and buildings, for a bank or for some other institution, so why not let the private sector invest there, and the public money can go to living culture, because it's much more difficult to get private money for that. It's more risky, it's not as lucrative, but a society that does not create, dies. Let's not forget that. If a politician wants to spend tax money properly, he should spend it on culture purely cynically because it attracts business.

Emily Thompson can be reached at
ethompson@praguepost.com