EU

Žiga Faktor, head of the Brussels office of the Institute for European Policy EUROPEUM, commented on the new role that the Czech Republic is gaining in the European Union in 2022. The Czech Republic will become the presiding country for the second time in history.

Our researcher Vít Havelka, in his article "New Sources of the EU Budget", which was created under the Think Visegrad in Brussels project, writes about the new own resources of the EU budget, which are currently being discussed at the European level. The text specifically discusses why the reform of own resources is necessary and what are the positions of the various EU institutions and member states on these proposals. It concludes with a reflection on the Czech position, including an outlook on how it might evolve depending on the course of the negotiations.

We would like to invite you to the fourth debate from the EU-Pacific talks series titled "Japan – V4 relations – more central but still European" The debate will take place online on the 11th of January and will be broadcasted on our Facebook page.

Our Researcher Vít Havelka commented for Lidovky.cz the Czech Presidency and the Czech summit. In the interview, he answers questions about the summit and plans for the Czech Presidency.

Our researcher Zuzana Stuchlíková commented for Euractiv.cz on the upcoming French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. According to her, the French presidency will be more visible, unlike the Czech presidency, which is likely to choose the tactic of a "maintenance presidency".

Žiga Faktor, head of the Brussels office of the Institute for European Policy EUROPEUM, spoke with Czech Radio about the new role that the Czech Republic is gaining in the European Union in 2022. Czechia is holding this post for the second time in history, as well as in the first case it is in a trio with Sweden and France.

The priorities of the French Presidency include the economic recovery of the Union after the pandemic, the climate agenda, European defence, relations with African countries and the Western Balkans. Our research fellow Vít Havelka also commented on the topic.

Our research fellow Vít Havelka wrote an analysis for iDnes.cz summarising the challenges of the Czech EU Presidency for the Czech government.

Talking Europe(um) is a podcast which comments on current issues in the European Union. List of episodes, as well as information about where you can listen to the podcast, is in the article.

As part of a study visit to the Brussels office of the Think Visegrad platform, a publication by Tamáš Boros was created, which focuses on the issue of poverty in the Visegrad countries. The document outlines the current situation in the region, as despite robust economic growth in the V4 countries, unemployment is still much higher than in Western Europe.

We would like to invite you to a debate titled "2021 Progress Reports on the Western Balkans: Is the EU enlargement lost?" The online debate will take place on the 21st of December at 10:00.

The head of our Brussels office, Žiga Faktor, wrote a report on the panel discussion that took place in a hybrid form in Brussels. During the panel, speakers discussed the latest developments in the NATO Strategic Concept and European defence autonomy debate. In addition, they focused on how Central and Eastern Europe, in particular countries of the Visegrad group, affect the process.