Press Advisories

3. 3. 2017 22:05

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met with Czech MEPs to discuss Brexit and dual quality in foods. He expects their support

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met with Czech MEPs at the Office of the Government, 3 March 2017.
Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met with Czech MEPs at the Office of the Government, 3 March 2017.
On Friday 3 March 2017, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka met with MEPs representing the Czech Republic in the European Parliament at the Office of the Government. At the latest of these regular meetings to which the Czech MEPs are invited by the Prime Minister, the main topics were protection for Czech consumers from dual quality foods, the European Directive on arms control, the situation in the European Union prior to the upcoming negotiations on Great Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and establishing more effective cooperation between MEPs and the Government.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka informed the Czech MEPs present of the position the Czech Republic is prepared to adopt during the upcoming negotiations on the agreement with Great Britain.

“The Czech Republic intends to negotiate terms with Great Britain that will not damage our mutual economic and security relations, in order to avoid endangering the rights of Czech citizens living in Great Britain and to maintain the principle of the indivisibility of the EU’s four basic freedoms,“ emphasised Bohuslav Sobotka.

Prime Minister Sobotka also asked the Czech MEPs to support his efforts to ask the European Commission to enforce a ban on selling the same food products from the same producer with differing qualities for different countries within the single European market.

“Czech, as well as Slovak and Polish citizens are being harmed by these practices that are employed by multinational producers. We agreed on this with the other prime ministers of the V4 countries at an extraordinary summit in Warsaw. However, the European Commission continues to downplay this issue,“ said the Prime Minister.

Those attending the meeting also agreed on the need for more effective cooperation between the Government and Czech MEPs. According to Prime Minister Sobotka, this should primarily be based on two-way communication on important European issues. The Prime Minister emphasised the fact that the CR should act in unison on key issues, because this type of approach will strengthen our negotiating position. He also reminded them of a recent meeting between the leaders of parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies on the subject of Brexit, which resulted in a unanimous opinion on the Czech Republic’s negotiating position. According to him, the Government is prepared to hold an open and substantive dialogue at all levels with the MEPs.

Active communications with Czech representatives in European institutions is one of the Social Democrat- led Government’s long-term priorities in European politics. This was the fourth meeting between Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and the Czech MEPs. Previous meetings were held in June 2014, October 2015 and October 2016.

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