Κώστας Β. Mποτόπουλος

It wouldn’t be fair to evade the fact that the Czech Presidency kicked off under the worst auspices - and when one criticises the Presidency, one is not referring of course to the country or to the people but to the Czech government. It is true that the Czech Republic was unlucky since, as if the problems it inherited - the European and global recession, the prolongation of Europe’s institutional impasse - were not enough, the world brought forth two more as soon as Prague assumed duties: an energy dispute outside EU territory - between two non-EU countries (Russia, Ukraine) - but with pan-European ramifications, on the one hand, Israel’s attack against Gaza and the consequent upheaval close to the European South-Eastern border, on the other. Although this new presiding country neither hid from the problem nor spared diplomatic, intermediating efforts in the case of the energy crisis, on the other three fronts, its moves so far have been disappointing. “More American than an American”, the Czech Foreign Minister rushed to blame only Hamas for the tragedy in Gaza - before he was brought back into line. The damage was done though, both to the Presidency’s prestige and, most importantly, to the European Union. Immediately thereafter, the Czech Presidency presented a work programme as if the financial crisis had never occurred, as if its depth and consequences had not been comprehended. A neoliberal programme of the old school type (opposed not only to what we Socialists believe but also to all that Sarkozy said and did as President of the Union) placing emphasis on “competitiveness” and “the removal of barriers that still stand in the way of the free movement of goods and services”, as if this were the problem in Europe and the world today. Things are even worse on the institutional front given that the Czech President Klaus (who, among other things, refuses to put up the Union flag) embraces a provocatively anti-European rhetoric while the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty is still pending. The performance given before the European Parliament’s plenary in Strasbourg last January by the more moderate -at least in theory - Prime Minister Topolanek convinced even the most optimistic that the Czech Presidency is in no way willing to re-normalise things in sight of the second Irish referendum which is going to take place after this summer’s European Elections (it could do that in two very simple ways: by lifting its own abeyance and thus making life easier for the “ Yes” campaign in Dublin). On the contrary, it intends to take advantage of its position at the Union’s helm in order to fuel the resistance against the - imperfect yet necessary - Lisbon Treaty. Evidential of the situation is Czech Prime Minister’s staggering phrase: “The Lisbon Treaty is worse than the Treaty of Nice”- a phrase whose only positive result will be to boost comparative law studies (dissertations are being completed on it in all European universities as we speak).

Some argue that it is too early to dismiss a presidency that is going to last six months - if only they were right...  What is already clear though is that Europe cannot keep on living, especially in a time of continuous structural crisis, under the threat of the “Czech Roulette”, namely the continuous and random succession of countries at the Union’s helm. For the system to change, so that Europe can gain a sense of direction, the Lisbon Treaty – upon which we need to build and not repose - must come into force.  We are not voting on that in June.  The ballot-box message though will, among other things, have a decisive influence on this particular and crucial for Europe’s future development.