EU

We would like to invite you to another part of six debates in the EU-PACIFIC Talks series. The debate will take place online on Tuesday 26th of October at 10:30am on our Facebook page.

Zdeněk Beranek, Director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, commented for the news portal E15 on the future direction of Czech foreign policy towards the European Union. Beránek does not expect a significant change in attitude towards the EU and expects the anti-Brussels rhetoric to cease with the new government. On the other hand, relations with problematic EU members such as Poland and Hungary will weaken.

A new government will lead the Czech Republic after the recent elections. It will have to face domestic challenges such as high inflation and rapidly growing national debt, the transition to a low-carbon economy and the issue of affordable housing. At the same time, however, the Czech government will also face many important issues with European implications. The future direction of the Czech Republic within the EU will be another topic of Café Evropa debates.

Our research associate, Zuzana Stuchlíková, commented for coverage on the citizens' debate in response to criticism that the European Union is out of touch with the people.

We bring you a summary and recommendations resulting from the roundtable discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on 1 October 2021. The recommendations were prepared by Zuzana Kasáková.

The Director of Europeum Institute for European Policy Zdeněk Beránek contributed to an article on the current relations between Poland and the European Union. The article refutes predictions of Poland's imminent departure from the EU and covers, among other things, the disputes over the Turów mine.

Our director Zdeněk Beránek spoke about the relations between Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and his Hungarian counterpart Victor Orbán. Both are harsh critics of the EU institutions. However, the defeat of Babiš in recent parliamentary elections could hurt relations between the capitals.

In an article for INFO.CZ, our researcher Jana Juzová comments on the events of last Wednesday, when another series of EU and regional summits took place in Brdo near Kranj, Slovenia. In her article, she explains why, despite the high ambitions of organizing Slovenia, the meeting brought rather disappointment and disillusionment and what the final joint declaration contains.

Our research fellow Vít Havelka commented for Seznam Zprávy on the results of a study on voting in the Council of the EU, which focused on cooperation in voting by individual member states within various groupings such as the Visegrad Four, Benelux and others.

In Hospodářské noviny's podcast Morning Briefing by Ondřej Houska, our researcher Vít Havelka commented on who is the Czech Republic's key partner and assessed the functionality of the Visegrad Four.

Martin Vokálek, Executive Director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, commented on the different domestic and European policies of the ANO party. From the European Parliament, Czech politics may look different than at home. The coalition that rules the European Parliament and indeed the EU is made up of ANO, TOP 09, KDU-ČSL, STAN and ČSSD.

For Slovenia, the enlargement of the European Union is currently the expected topic of the leaders' summit. The Western Balkans could be enriched by the EU, which is a priority mainly for Slovenia, as well as the Visegrad countries. However, some member States are critical of the expansion of the Union's circles.