Related articles

We are now one third of the way through the Czech Republic’s six-month rotating presidency of the EU. Between the Israeli bombardment of Gaza and the gas supply dispute between Russia and Ukraine, the presidency got off to a dramatic start, while the global financial crisis remains the major issue of the day. But how has Prague actually been handling the presidency so far? That’s a question I put to Petr Drulák of the Institute for International Relations.

The Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, says the European Union is able to face the economic crisis more effectively because of the bloc’s enlargement in 2004. Speaking in Prague on Monday at a conference on the EU’s biggest ever enlargement, Mr Topolánek said a bigger EU is stronger and can better deal with economic problems.

Ten post-communist countries, including the Czech Republic, acceded to the bloc in 2004. The Czech prime minister described the enlargement as a “tiger’s leap” which benefited both old and new member states. Mr Topolánek also criticized the fact that only two of the EU’s four freedoms are being fulfilled; unlike free movement of goods and capital, free movement of services and labour is still restricted. These limitations hinder the bloc’s economic growth as well as further integration, said the Czech prime minister.

Three of the European Union’s top leaders made heartfelt calls in Prague today for the world’s biggest economic and trading power not to turn its back on its basic values under pressure from the world financial crisis. Czech Premier, Mirek Topolánek, EU President, José Manuel Barroso, and the EU’s Economic Commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, were in the Czech capital for a conference to discuss the success and lessons learnt from the EU’s biggest ever enlargement five years ago.

The Deputy Czech Prime Minister for European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra, meanwhile, has said that if the EU is to find a common solution to the current global economic crisis, then all EU members must ‘show their hands’ and be honest about the amount of bad debt they have. Speaking on Czech Television on Sunday, Mr Vondra said that he knew the process would not be easy, and that the Czech EU presidency had called Sunday’s European summit to get such discussion underway.

The Czech minister of the interior, Ivan Langer, says it is possible European Union states will adopt a common position on accepting detainees from America’s Guantanamo Bay prison. Mr Langer made the comments in Brussels, where he was chairing a meeting of EU interior ministers as part of the Czech Republic’s six-month presidency of the bloc. He said the ministers first needed to know what the US expects and wants from EU states. President Obama has ordered the closing of the controversial prison, raising the question of what to do with its inmates. The subject will be on the agenda next month when the US secretary of state visits Brussels and Mr Langer and the EU justice commissioner visit Washington.

As the Palestinian president met with leaders in Prague, EU foreign ministers in Brussels called on the incoming Israeli government to re-launch the Middle East peace process without delay. The Czech Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexander Vondra predicted a rough start to the talks with the emerging government of right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu, who is known for his negative position on the creation of a Palestinian state, but said the EU was ready to cooperate with any government elected by the people. As EU president, the Czech government has been actively involved in efforts to find a solution to the Middle East crisis.

European leaders, including Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, have met in Berlin to discuss ways of tackling the global economic crisis - an attempt by leaders to coordinate Europe’s stance ahead of April’s G20 Summit in London. German Chancellor Angela Merkel invited fellow leaders for the one-day meeting. Participants agreed on a number of steps, above all that new rules will be needed in oversight and regulation of all financial markets “without exception”. Also agreed was the need to implement stimulus measures limiting the distortion to competition to an “absolute minimum” - reaction to recent charges of protectionism. Earlier this month, French President Nicolas Sarkozy drew criticism from Prague when he suggested French automakers should move foreign production back to France to secure government funding.

The Czech presidency of the European Union has condemned planned Israeli settlement activities in the vicinity of the Adam settlement in the West Bank. In a statement issued on Friday, the presidency urged Israel to reconsider the planned construction which would violate international law. Continued settlement activities represent a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East, and severely damage the prospect of the creation of a viable Palestinian state, the Czech EU presidency said.

Israel plans to build another 1,400 housing units near the existing settlement of Adam in the West Bank. According to the EU presidency statement, Israel built more than 1,200 settlement structures last year, nearly 750 of them permanent.

The Czech president Václav Klaus addressed the European Parliament on Thursday morning, in a keenly-anticipated appearance that disappointed neither the president’s critics, nor his supporters. Eurosceptic MEPs rose to their feet and applauded as Mr Klaus attacked the “democratic deficit” that he said plagued the European Union, while pro-integration parliamentarians booed, whistled, and even walked out.

The lower house of the Czech parliament approved the European Union's Lisbon Treaty on Wednesday, by a narrow margin of five votes. The treaty – aimed at reforming the EU - now goes to the upper house, where it faces stiff opposition from the main governing party, the Civic Democrats. The Czech Republic currently holds the revolving presidency of the EU, and ratifying Lisbon is proving to be politically rather awkward.