Czechs pass presidency to Swedes

The collapse of the Topolánek government cast an overwhelming pall over the Czech European Union presidency, say experts, so much so that concrete accomplishments are likely to go unnoticed.

As Sweden takes the EU helm July 1, a panel of political analysts universally cited the March vote of no-confidence as the key event of the six-month presidency. After being pressed in interviews, most moved on to lukewarm general reviews of the Czech performance, citing diplomatic competence, the start of formal talks with countries on the EU's eastern periphery and a successful compromise with the Irish in preparation for an autumn referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.

"Overall, it was a failure of the Czech political elite and a sign of immaturity," said Petr Drulák with the Prague Institute for International Relations. Going one step further, and turning conventional wisdom on its head, Drulák placed blame for the collapse very much on the doorstep of former Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and his Civic Democratic Party-led coalition, as opposed to frequently blamed opposition leader Jiří Paroubek.

"The government carries the big responsibility for what happened. They were always a minority government, and it was their responsibility to secure unity for the presidency. They didn't."

Hugo Brady
Centre for European Reform, London
Grade of the Czechs' performance on a scale of 0 to 5: 2 "Klaus' message came to be seen as their message, and that was disastrous."

Julia DeClerck-Sachsse
Center for European Policy Studies, Brussels
Grade of the Czechs' performance on a scale of 0 to 5: 2 "They didn't provide the stability necessary in a time of crisis."

Petr Drulák
Institute for International Relations, Prague
Grade of the Czechs' performance on a scale of 0 to 5: 3
"The political dimension is close to zero, maybe a 0.5, but there were issues to be tackled, and they tackled them."
 

Jonathan White
London School of Economics, London
Grade of the Czechs' performance on a scale of 0 to 5: 2
"It was the wrong presidency for the current financial crisis."

He then added, "The opposition, of course, did abuse the presidency."

While scholars in London and Brussels echoed much of Drulák's tone, they consistently mentioned policy issues like the war in Gaza and the Lisbon Treaty, but said the response to the world economic crisis remains the issue that will reverberate in coming years.   

"Small-country presidencies may not drive the agenda with their own distinctive policy ideas," said Jonathan White with the London School of Economics. "But they can influence who else drives the agenda."

The Czech presidency sided with free-market principles in coordinating a crisis response, making the United Kingdom a driver of response policy. In practice, the United Kingdom was seeking to "protect the autonomy of the city of London" as a financial center, while "France, Germany and many other West European countries pushed for a more regulatory approach," White said.

"The Czechs stuck to a fundamentalist view and were not interested in changing," said Hugo Brady with the Centre for European Reform in London.

The inaugural EU Eastern Partnership summit took place May 7 in Prague during Topolánek's last days as prime minister. It marked formal steps toward increased EU ties with Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The meeting was cited by several experts as a specific success of the presidency.

"The diplomats deserve some credit, even if the politicians failed," said Julia De Clerck-Sachsse at the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels. "They did manage to hold the summits."

Drulák, listing successes during the presidency, said, "Of course, the Eastern Partnership" and noted the Southern Corridor summit that occurred the next day. The meeting targeted energy security and included representatives from Turkey, Egypt, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan, the key source of much of the energy potential discussed, conspicuously did not sign the summit's final declaration.

"Overall, on energy diplomacy, there was successful gas diplomacy in January [as Ukrainian-Russian dispute cut off fuel supplies] and the revival of Nabucco [the proposed pipeline designed to bring Central Asian gas to Europe bypassing Russia]."  

The impression that Czechs had mixed feelings about the EU in general, fueled by President Vacláv Klaus, played a major role in how the presidency was portrayed abroad and in its relative success, said Brady.

"There was ambiguity and distraction," he said. "If I am not sure I like golf, it is pretty hard to be Tiger Woods."

Since taking over May 9, Prime Minister Jan Fischer has steadied what was becoming a sinking ship, experts say.

"He managed to pick up the pieces," De Clerck-Sachsse said. "The final summit was successful, and they did manage to hold summits in the eye of the storm."

The final summit, ending June 19, saw the EU finalize Lisbon compromises with the Irish and European Commission President José Manuel Barroso unanimously endorsed for a second five-year term.

Optimists might say all is well that ends well.

"They had a successful June," Brady said.

Highs and lows of the Czech EU presidency

The highlights

Jan. 1 The Czech Republic takes over the EU presidency from France among questions from some whether the country's political leadership is up to the task. There is a mounting financial crisis, a war in Gaza and a burgeoning dispute over natural gas between Russia and Ukraine. The three "E's" are set as priorities: economy, energy and Europe

April 5 U.S. President Barack Obama gives a speech on nuclear disarmament on Hradčanské náměstí

May 6 The Senate votes in favor of the Lisbon Treaty, making Klaus' signature the final step for ratification

May 7 On his final day as prime minister, Mirek Topolánek chairs the first Eastern Partnership Summit to boost relations with neighbors

May 8 New Prime Minister Jan Fischer and a 16-member cabinet are officially appointed to replace the Topolánek government

June 19 Fischer chairs an EU summit where members finalize compromises for a new Irish referendum on the Lisbon Treaty

June 30 The Czech Republic passes the presidency to Sweden

The lowlights

Jan. 3 A government spokesman refers to the Israeli invasion of Gaza as "defensive, not offensive," sparking controversy among other member states. The Czech government later qualifies the statement and leaders go to the Middle East in hopes of negotiating a ceasefire and opening humanitarian corridors

Jan. 13 Amid protests from several member states over their depiction in the installation Entropa, artist David Černý admits that the work is not that of artists from each of the 27 EU countries as stated

Feb. 19 Klaus speaks at the European Parliament, emphasizing the distance between European politicians and citizens: "The proposals to change the current state of affairs - included in the rejected European constitution or in the not-much-different Lisbon Treaty - would make this defect even worse"

March 24 A no-confidence vote topples Topolánek's government

March 25 Topolánek, speaking at the European Parliament, calls the Obama administration's economic recovery plan the "road to hell"

June 9 Members of a Czech-led EU delegation to Gaza contradict official EU policy and meet with officials from Hamas

Benjamin Cunningham can be reached at
bcunningham@praguepost.com