The Czech EU Presidency: Europe on Autopilot or Express Train Delivering on Time?

The Czech EU Presidency which had chosen “Europe without Barriers” as its motto stumbled over more barriers than it cared to find on its way.  The Czechs found themselves in “interesting times” for both the EU and the Czech Republic itself.  The ‘three Es’: Economy, Energy and the European Union in the World, they had chosen as their initial priorities were ambitious, the results in implementing them were - in spite of the frantic May and June summitry -  poor.  The lack of success cannot all  be blamed on external factors such as the financial and economic crisis,  the gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine or the outburst of  the violent conflict in Gaza.  The internal problems of the Czech administration, which resulted in the fall of the ruling coalition in March, kept it from running a successful presidency. The lack of consensus on significant EU issues within the government camp and the obstinacy of eurosceptic president Václav Klaus have made it practically impossible to press ahead with the assigned priorities and to steer the Union in a satisfactory way.  The fall of the Czech government put Europe in the eyes of come analysts “on autopilot” even though Czech EU Affairs Minister Štefan Füle still speaks optimistically of an express “train reaching the end of the line on time with a maximum number of gaols achieved.” What goals has the Czech presidency achieved?  What tasks have not been fulfilled and will have to be handed over to the Swedes?  How difficult is it in the current situation for a postcommunist country to run a succesful presidency?  How badly does Europe need the Lisbon treaty, and has the Czech presidency succeeded in drawing up a “roadmap to Lisbon”?

Speakers:
- Mats Braun, Research Fellow Institute of International Relations, Prague
- Sadi Shanaah, formeradviser to former Czech Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Ondrej Liška

Discussant:
- Ilana Bet-El, writer, historian and political analyst,  Brussels
 
Moderator:
Eva van de Rakt, Director Heinrich Böll Foundation Prague