Brussels breathes again as EU presidency goes to Sweden[fr][de] 

Political failure, organisational success

Czech officials told EurActiv.cz that "the presidency failed to promote its partial successes". They said that from a technical point of view, it was well-organised, and experts stationed in Brussels deserve credit for their work. Prague representatives widely agree that the presidency handled relatively well challenging events such as the Russia-Ukraine gas crisis, the global economic meltdown and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

From an official Czech perspective, the blame lies at the feet of French President Nicolas Sarkozy for his "subversive" efforts to address the problems, and in particular a visit to the Middle East which disrupted the parallel Czech EU Presidency mediation effort. Before Prague took over the presidency from Paris, the country's president, Václav Klaus, directly accused France of planning to "siphon" it (EurActiv 27/10/09).

But seen from France, it was the weakness of Czech diplomacy which in fact prompted the French president to come forward and meet the Israeli foreign minister at the time, Tzipi Livni, on 1 January, while conducting other initiatives in the region.

French officials did not seek to hide their difficulties in working with the Czechs. Speaking in the French parliament ahead of the June EU summit, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso had been "extremely efficient under an efficient French Presidency, but he was less efficient under a less efficient Czech presidency".

Sarkozy himself fired veiled criticism at former Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and the tumultuous beginning of the Czech Presidency. Speaking to journalists at the June summit, Sarkozy said that current transitional Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer had done his job as EU president well. He added: "I don't remember well everything that happened before. Therefore the Czech presidency ends well." 

According to former Czech EU Affairs Minister Alexandr Vondra, the Czechs succeeded in bringing the Russians and Ukrainians to the negotiating table during the January gas crisis. He believes that the Czech government helped avert a catastrophe which could have resulted in an EU-wide blackout.

However, Zdeněk Kavan from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom downplayed the success of the gas crisis troubleshooting, pointing out that the solution found was only temporary and that no advances were made in terms of improving energy safety.

Those episodes were to a large extent overshadowed by the fall of the ODS (Civic Democratic Party)-led government in spring 2009. Several high-level representatives, including Vondra, current Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Kohout and current permanent representative of the Czech Republic to the EU Milena Vicenová admit that the fall of the cabinet damaged the reputation of the presidency, describing it as the worst shock of all.

Missing the joke

Jan Kohout added that 'Entropa', the controversial artwork by David Černý, displayed for several weeks in the entrance hall of the Council's Justus Lipsius building as a symbol of the Czech Presidency, and the ambiguous motto 'Evropě to osladíme' ('We'll sweeten it up for Europe', which can also be interpreted as meaning 'we'll make things more difficult') further diminished the credibility of the presidency.

Bulgaria reacted at official level to 'Entropa', which depicted the country as a Turkish toilet, and demanded that Prague remove the sculpture (EurActiv 15/01/09). Ultimately the 'toilet' artefact was covered with black cloth.

Professor Zdeněk Kavan from the department of international relations at Sussex commented that the Czechs "will be remembered as those who made jokes instead of making attempts at solving the economic crisis".

The other (official) motto 'Europe without barriers', however, was not a mere catchphrase. According to Martin Tlapa, assistant to the Czech trade minister, the Union's 27 nations reached – under Czech leadership – an unlikely consensus about the need to carry on liberalising international trade, increase financing of exports and rule out protectionist measures (especially those heralded by France) at all costs.

Last February, then-Prime Minister Topolánek warned that if the bloc's large countries like France and Germany were to behave in a protectionist manner, the result could be similar to the 1929 crash that preceded the Great Depression (EurActiv 10/02/09).

Czech against delivery

This was not the only time that Topolánek made statements his aides regretted. Presenting the Czech Presidency's priorities to the European Parliament on 14 January, Topolánek caused an outcry when he suggested that the EU's current Nice Treaty was better than the Lisbon Treaty, which the Union's leaders are struggling to push through (EurActiv 15/01/09).

"The Lisbon Treaty is in fact an average one. It is a little bit worse than [the Treaty of] Nice and a little bit better than the future treaty," said Topolánek.

MEPs reacted angrily to the statement, but Topolánek later explained that his words had paraphrased a Czech saying, which states: "This year will be an average one, a little bit worse than the preceding one and little bit better than the next one."

He then insisted that it was meant to be a joke, further elaborating that the Lisbon Treaty was "not a mantra".

However, months later, his party ODS joined an anti-Lisbon grouping in the newly elected European Parliament.

Just ahead of the visist to Prague of newly elected US president Barack Obama, Topolánek referred to US stimulus policy as the "way to hell" (EurActiv 26/03/09). His aides denied he had said this, but later Topolánek himself said he had used the term because he was under the influence of rock group AC/DC after having attended their concert. AC/DC have a song entitled 'Highway to hell'.

Mitteleuropa snapshots

Poland, the biggest Eastern European EU country, repeatedly indicated its concern with the way Prague was handling the presidency, fearing for the image of Central and Eastern Europe.

Now that the presidency has ended, Warsaw would prefer to see the glass as half-full. From a Polish point of view, Prague did a good job on two very important issues: the Eastern Partnership and energy projects.

As part of the former Czechoslovakia, Slovakia had a particular interest in keeping close contacts with its neighbour during the presidency. Slovakia embraced the Eastern Partnership and supported Prague's moves in the field of energy security. The Czech Presidency supported Slovakia in overcoming reservations about the European Commission's recovery plan, which Bratislava felt initially did not sufficiently reflect the needs of the countries of Central Europe (EurActiv 09/03/09).

Eduard Kukan, a Slovak ex-foreign minister turned MEP, said he was truly dissatisfied with the Czech Presidency. "It is a deep disappointment that Czech politicians could not delay solving their problems a few months. I think they acted irresponsibly towards their country," he said, referring to the mid-term collapse of the Prague government.

Hungary was very supportive ahead of the Czech EU Presidency. Budapest did not criticise Prague when the government collapsed. Arguably, they preferred to keep a low profile as the new Hungarian prime minister was appointed the same day as Jan Fischer (EurActiv.hu 06/04/09 ).

Nevertheless, Budapest put forward awkward ideas, which may have upset the presidency's agenda. At an extraordinary EU summit on 1 March, Hungary called for the establishment of a fund worth €160-190 billion to provide liquidity and debt rescheduling for Eastern European states (EurActiv 01/03/09). The proposal was flatly rejected.

Moreover, by organising a Nabucco summit, Hungary seemed to be competing with the presidency-led Southern Corridor summit (EurActiv 27/01/09).

Nobody in Germany was happy about the chaotic situation in the Czech Republic. But considering the extraordinary circumstances, Berlin offered a balanced assessment of the Czech term.

When in Berlin recently, new Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer stressed that Germany was a privileged place for him to hold consultations – before Paris, London and Stockholm. Germany and the Czech Republic have nevertheless maintained close cooperation in recent months despite all their troubles.

The most disappointed actor in Germany seems to be the Czech ambassador to Berlin himself. Mr Rudolf Jindrák admitted that he was personally very much affected and disappointed by the government's collapse.

"I am afraid that unfortunately this event will stay forever in European history. But nevertheless we have mastered all of our agenda quite well," he added.