When the government unveiled the slogan for the upcoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, a fellow journalist complained that it reflected the superficiality of EU thinking in the region. The slogan “Europe as a task” refers to the eponymous collection of speeches by Vaclav Havel, in which the former Czech president presents himself as a fervent supporter of the federalization of Europe. Paradoxically, the parties of the current (centre-right) government coalition – with the exception of some of its members – refuse to take this path. “If you don’t know, put Havel”commented another colleague about the fact that, despite its positions, the government still bet on Havel.
Unfamiliar with Czech domestic details and controversies, foreign audiences welcomed the announcement of the slogan with relief. As the French analyst Éric Maurice, head of the Brussels office of the Robert Schuman Foundation, said in an interview with our magazine, the fact that the government of Petr Fiala placed itself under the patronage of the highly respected Havel at dawn of this presidency seems “promising”. The implementation of the slogan, still according to Maurice, will nevertheless require to be “able to lead”, among other skills. The task of the Czech Republic over the next six months will be more difficult – and more – than usual, because it will be up to her to keep Europe together in the face of the war of Russia against Ukraine.
However, the Czechs do not arrive in this presidency like a hair in the soup. For several decades, the country in charge of the presidency has coordinated with the one before it and with the one after it, so that political action does not constantly start from scratch. The Czech Republic forms a trio with France, whose presidency is coming to an end, and with Sweden, to which it will hand over the baton at the end of the year. The agenda is therefore already more or less fixed.
As a result, the Czechs will inherit files that their government officials would probably not have chosen on their own. Thus, from the beginning of the presidency, in July, the Minister of Finance, Zbynek Stanjura, whose ODS (conservative party) firmly rejects the euro, will finalize the accession of Croatia to the euro zone from 1