European Affairs

European Affairs in the Czech Republic
Priorities, Goals, Tasks

Minister for European Affairs Juraj Chmiel runs the section of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic that is the main overseer of the European Union issues in the Czech Republic – the European Affairs Office (EAO).

Among the main tasks of the European Affairs Office primarily belong: coordination of the European policies at individual Czech ministries and the function of an independent mediator, which links the various departments together. EAO also plays a significant coordination and analytical role in relation to the formulation of the Czech Republic’s positions for the various meeting of the European Union. EAO is responsible for communication with the public and informs the public about the European affairs through its euroskop.cz web portal, toll-free telephone line “Eurofon”, and through its network of “Eurocenters” located throughout the Czech Republic. Last, but not least, ESO aims to positively influence the functioning of the EU internally.

The current priorities, which the team of Minister Chmiel faces, include primarily:

• the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty: once the ratification process of the Lisbon treaty is completed in all EU Member States, the most important part will approach – and that is the implementation of the Treaty. The European Affairs Office (EAO) prepared an “Analysis of impacts of the Lisbon Treaty,” which was approved by the Governmental Committee for the EU on 11 January 2010. The Analysis should clarify the main directions and also the main problems brought about by the Lisbon Treaty. It also addresses the related changes and how they will be reflected in practice.
• “EU 2020 Strategy”: with respect to the other important long-term goals, the European agendas are primarily dominated by economic themes. The Spanish presidency, which took over the EU administration as of 1.1. 2010, thus counts the approval of the so-called “EU 2020 Strategy” among its priorities. This Strategy is a plan for the economic development for the next decade, and follows onto the Lisbon Strategy, which expires in 2010. At present time, an EU-wide discussion is taking place on how the new document will look like. Czech Republic emphasizes in this connection primarily the increased economic growth, employment and competitiveness of the European Union in the global world. The EU should therefore focus on the issues related to the aging population, insufficient rise in work productivity, sustainability of public finances or the growing global competition.
• coordination of European policies: the EU policies are broad and affect practically all departments of the government. It is rather demanding to find an agreement and to formulate clear and united positions, which the Czech Republic will then promote in Brussels. This coordination and analytical role of the EAO is thus a cornerstone of the long-term functioning of the entire team.
• The European Navigation System Galileo: Czech Republic has long strived to ensure that the headquarters of this important European agency – GSA – will be located in Prague. The European Affairs Office will aspire to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

EAO underwent a considerable reorganization at the beginning of 2010. It reduced a number of its employees in connection with the change of its agenda connected with move from the presidency mode to the standard mode (Czech Republic presided over the EU in the first half of 2009).