Dossier - The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU
The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU
In January 2009 the Czech Republic assumed the Presidency of the Council of the EU. The Presidency provides the Czech Republic with a unique opportunity to influence the agenda of the EU for six months. more»
The Czech EU-Presidency - A Polish Perspective – July 3, 2009 - The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU has, since the very beginning, attracted negative comments, especially in the “old” member states. A “new” rather small member state, which has not yet ratified the Lisbon Treaty, was under close scrutiny of the more experienced and influential partners in the Community. Aleksander Fuksiewicz, Agnieszka Łada more»
What agreements were not reached at the EU-China summit? – July 2, 2009 - Many visits by important state officials took place during the Czech EU presidency. However, few of them brought about any significant changes for the future of the EU’s external relations. The EU-China summit in Prague will not be recorded in history as having been a breakthrough, or even as significant. Alice Savovová more»
Reality check on the Bali promises after Bonn II: Where is climate heading to in Copenhagen? – June 23, 2009 - In mid-December 2007, the US delegation finally stopped blocking the way towards reaching agreement and the Bali Action Plan was approved late at night. After two weeks of tough negotiations, which included booing in the room, , the approval was a “real breakthrough and a real opportunity” as Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, put it. Kateřina Husová more»
Priority European Union in the World
Conference Report
"Eastern Partnership: Towards Civil Society Forum"
May 26, 2009 - The EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative is off to a bad start. Presented by Sweden and Poland with much fanfare in 2008 as a new forum for the EU to engage the eastern neighbourhood, its recent launch in Prague proved, on the contrary, to be a major disappointment. Roderick Kefferpütz more»
Eastern Partnership and the Caucasus – May 6, 2009 - With its new Eastern Partnership (EaP), the EU has opened a new chapter in European Eastern Policy, and from the very beginning it aims to involve civil society. By Iris Kempe, Tarek Hohberg and Roderick Kefferpütz more»
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Priority Energy
Countdown to Copenhagen finds the EU stuck in limbo
April 2, 2009 - There are 250 days or so now remaining until the Copenhagen conference, where the most complicated and most crucial agreement in history will hopefully, in spite of much expected kicking and screaming to come, see the light of day. But what to make of the EU's contributions thus far? Kateřina Husová more»
Bonn conference starts final phase of climate negotiations – March 25, 2009 - The last Sunday in March will see the start of a two-week meeting of the UNFCCC in Bonn. This is the negotiators’ first meeting this year, meant to present a final agreement on establishing a global regime to replace the Kyoto Protocol.                                       Marek Vaculík more»
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General Issues
The results of the European Elections
From 4 – 7 June, EU citizens were called to the polls to elect their European Parliamentary members for the next five years. The results of the Greens/European Free Alliance club at the EP are more than impressive, but also alarming, given that the expectedly low voter turnout was only 43.09 % Claude Weinber more»
Unfortunately, no EP mandate for the Czech Greens – The Czech Greens (Strana zelených, SZ) were not counting on such a poor result in the recent EP elections. SZ won just 2.06 % of the vote and ended up in ninth place. Eva van de Rakt more»
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Priority Economy
G20 in London. The most anticipated summit of recent years.
April 20, 2009 - The much anticipated G20 Summit with the heading “Stability, Growth, Jobs” went ahead without any serious complications. Whether it can be called a successful summit is debatable, but what is certain is that it was not, as many predicted, unsuccessful. Martin Pospíšil more»
Policy Paper
Grand plans, money and falls – seeking values and answers in the financial crisis – January 26, 2009 - The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU comes at a watershed period. Europe and the world are being shaken by a global crisis. Many people agree, however, that the watershed concerns more than just the economic crisis. Petr Lebeda more»
Make a Virtue of Necessity – January 6, 2009 - What we need is the allotment of finance to the overdue restructuring of economy and society. We must use the crisis for making our educational system fairer and more efficient and for creating the foundations for a green industrial revolution. Ralf Fücks more»