Prime Minister M. Topolanek Speech at gala Evening on EU Presidency 7. 1. 2009

It is a great honour for me that here, on my home territory, I can ceremonially open the Czech presidency of the European Union. What a fleeting moment this is for a Prime Minister, but what a historic day for the Czech Republic.

Perhaps no other European nation has devoted so much time and effort to debating the question of its identity and the meaning of its own existence, as the Czechs. This problem has followed us from the beginning of our creation as a modern nation, and has occupied the minds of leading figures in Czech science, culture and politics.

What can a nation, that is constantly questioning who it actually is, offer to Europe? What can the Czech Republic offer the European Union as its presiding country, when it itself has difficulty in finding a shared identity?

I think that we can offer precisely the experience we have of resolving the “Czech question”, because this is at the same time a European question. All the things that the Europe of today is asking itself are questions that the Czechs have been asking themselves for two hundred years. During this time, we have learnt what is truly important and what really matters.

We have learnt to make use of our capabilities. We have learnt to make the most from the least, we have learnt to listen carefully, we have learnt flexibility and resourcefulness, and we have learnt about detailed, but constant and hard everyday work. It is because of this that we have become a successful, prosperous and proud European nation precisely at a time which, with a somewhat overstated amount of pessimism and defeatism, we have called a “dark age”.

This beautiful National Theatre is actually one of the milestones of Czech emancipation. It is a striking reminder that a small nation, in a community of many nations, need not suffer from an inferiority complex. Not in the 19th century, and even less in the 21st. It is a striking reminder that the success of a community is not decided by grand debates on identity, but on the concrete results of the free activity of millions of people.

Yes, freedom is our fundamental value. Freedom is the answer to all our questions concerning identity, whether Czech or European. Freedom is the comparative advantage of a small nation amongst great ones, just as it is the advantage of a small continent amongst wealthier and more populous ones. Freedom is the cornerstone which joins our Czech identity to our European one.

Here I would like to borrow words written more than seventy years ago, from the critic and philosopher František Václav Krejčí, because I would not be able to express it better: “Let us call the European identity a clear awareness of membership not only of a nation, but also, beyond that, of a shared cultural and moral entity which Europe represents, in contrast to the other works of this world, even though the ground covered by this intellectual and cultural solidarity has not always been the same as the geographical area covered by Europe.”

Truly, the European identity does not have geographical borders. Even though our values are specifically European, they are also universal; values which anybody who is gifted with a free will can acknowledge.

Amongst these universal and still-valid values are the two postulates which attended the creation of the Coal and Steel Community: Peace and prosperity. How very important these values seem to us at the beginning of 2009! While still aware of the validity of these two postulates, coal and steel have today been replaced by oil and gas.

At the same time, these current questions, which we will have to deal with right from the first hours of our presidency, overlap with the priorities for this presidency’s content, with our “Three Es”, which are the Economy, Energy and Europe and the World. These are priorities, which affect all the member states, and which demonstrate the added value provided by European cooperation and the subsequent need to find solutions at a global level.

The global crisis has once again shown us that the wealth and size of a country are relative concepts. The laws of the Economy apply to everybody, great or small, rich or poor. And in the era of the global market, no one is protected from the consequences of mistakes. A shared and courageous approach is therefore even more necessary when searching for a solution, which will protect us from being overwhelmed by new mistakes.

Energy is another Europe-wide and global topic. It would be hard to find a better example of a European interest which requires a common foreign and security policy. The urgency of this priority has been demonstrated right at the start of our presidency.

And finally we have Europe and the World. The French presidency had to resolve the crisis in Georgia. Ours is starting with a new escalation in the tension in the Middle East. This is just another confirmation of what we have said before – that the European Union must play a far more active role in the Middle East conflict.

Let me say once more that the European identity does not have geographical borders. Apart from finding solutions to conflicts, this means to have good neighbourly policies and above all to take on new members. We have to continue in our mission to develop and enlarge this shared area of freedom, security and prosperity.

I am convinced that when resolving these problems and going after our priorities, just as when we are moderating current discussions, dealing with the agenda of the day or responding to any unforeseen events, we will be able to apply our specific Czech experience.

Just as I have mentioned the three priorities for the content of our presidency, which are these three “Es”, so I could also summarise the form of the Czech approach in terms of “three Es”. As the presiding country, we want to be effective, empathetic and eclectic.

As I have already mentioned, our experience through history has taught us not to spend a long time mulling over problems, but to start resolving them. Not however in a hurried way, but in a sober one. It has taught us that we should not try to jump too high, but that we have to use the capabilities and possibilities that we have to hand in a realistic manner. History has taught us to proceed in a way which is as Effective as possible.

At the same time, we have learnt to listen to others attentively and patiently. We have learnt to be sensitive to a wide range of problems, which larger countries with a less agitated history have not had to deal with. This ability for Empathy is something we will definitely need, both within the EU and with partners beyond its borders.

Finally, it is typical for Czechs not to set their sights on a single main ideology, but, on the contrary, to use various approaches and solutions, which have already proven to be useful and effective. This genetic Eclecticism will certainly be useful for the presiding country of the EU in today’s global, post-modern times.

These “three Czech Es” are a kind of preparation for leading this community of 27 states, and of half a billion people, in which the voice of the presiding country should not so much govern and decide, as moderate and inspire.

I have already mentioned that the value which joins our Czech identity with our European one is freedom. We are leading the European community in the same year that we celebrate the fifth anniversary of our accession, and twentieth anniversary of the fall of the totalitarian regime. Both these experiences tell us the same thing. They are saying that what is more important than greatness, than momentary riches, or than institutional arrangements, is freedom and the strength of an idea.

There is a connection from our Czech identity which leads us to our European one and thereafter to a global perspective. We see Europe as a community which is joined together by the same fundamental values, but which is at the same time an open area of freedom both with respect to its inhabitants and its external partners. It is in this way that we understand the motto of the Czech presidency of the European Union: Europe without barriers. Welcome to Prague.