Press conference of the Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek after negotiation of delegations of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Czech Republic on 24.3.2007

Martin Schmarcz, Head of the Press Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the press conference after negotiations of delegations of the Kingdom of Denmark and the Czech Republic. The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark, Mr. Rasmussen and the Czech Prime Minister Topolánek will inform you on their results. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic has the floor as the first one.
Mirek Topolánek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: Thank you. I am very pleased that the Prime Minister Rasmussen broke his journey to Berlin and visited Prague. We held personal meeting then meeting of delegations and finally working lunch. So, we had several hours to present our standpoints regarding number of issues. We discussed, of course, his journey to Berlin, the Berlin Declaration and useless excitement concerning the Czech standpoint. I think that the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Treaty of Rome will be very august and we agreed on that. We debated more deeply matters that will ensue. It concern of course works on institutional reforms, on a treaty, which would redefine the position that has not been approved so far. And we were also talking on aspects, which are connected with this framework, for example possible enlargement of the EU, related reforms and such like. We debated number of common issues. I think that both Denmark and the Czech Republic are member countries of the EU and the NATO. We debated our experience with the military base in Greenland. I am of the opinion that the standpoint of Denmark is similar to that of the Czech Republic. We discussed certain economic issues, but we do not have any problems in this area. Mutual trade exchange is growing significantly and it is balanced. We enjoy mutual confidence in the sphere of economy. We debated of course number of further issues, apart from other matters, also our accession to the Schengen area. I think that the negotiations were very interesting and very open.
Martin Schmarcz, Head of the Press Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic: Now, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark, Mr. Rasmussen has the floor.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark: Thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister for you kind words of welcome. I would also like to thank for the opportunity to meet you and to exchange views just before celebration of the 50th anniversary of the EU, which will be held in Berlin. I would like to say that our bilateral relationships are excellent. I appreciate close cooperation with the Czech Republic both in the EU structures and the structures of the NATO. And I am very pleased that our trade relationships are growing and flourishing. We will be celebrating, as it was indicated here, the 50th anniversary of Treaty of Rome in Berlin, which is in fact the 50th anniversary of the EU. I think there are reasons for celebrations, as the European project has achieved really significant results during last 50 years, whether it concerns enlargement of the EU, forming a continent of peace, a continent of freedom and prosperity, whether it concerns forming a single European market, which enjoy both the old and the new member states. As far as future challenges are concerned, I think that it concern frequently mentioned issues like climatic changes, environment and also the security of citizens. And I think it is important to make sure that we Europeans can speak with stronger voice at the international scene. We were talking about a new Treaty, we have exchanged our views. As to the view of Denmark, we are of the opinion that the Treaty establishing Constitution for Europe is a good document and that it represents quite good framework for cooperation of 27 member states and that it is better than the Treaty of Nice. We would prefer very fast process. We would like this document to be politically clarified, including all the negotiations, by the end of this year, so that the Treaty could enter into force by the end of 2009, which means by the European elections. Finally, we discussed energy and I am happy to inform you that we agreed that the Czech Republic and Denmark should strengthen cooperation in the energy area.
Martin Schmarcz, Head of the Press Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic: Ladies and gentlemen, now there is time for two or three questions of yours, owing to the fact that negotiations were a bit longer and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark leave for Berlin.
Bohumil Vostál, Česká televize: Chancellor Angela Merkel has been forced to call a Czech leader Friday morning to ensure support the text .of the Berlin Declaration. How do you judge the sceptic attitude of the Czech Republic?
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark: In Denmark we are used to critical debates on concrete European issues. You certainly know that in 1992 citizens of Denmark rejected the Maastricht Treaty. In 2000 it was the euro, which was rejected. It means we are used to that critical debate. On the other hand, majority of Danes supports the European process, according to latest opinion polls; they realize necessity of mutual cooperation in the framework of international structures. And we realize that we need each other. It means that the two matters are not in contradiction. And as far as the Berlin Declaration is concerned I do not think it will be a problem to approve it. We regard its text as very good, brief and clear.
Mirek Topolánek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: I must respond to it, because the question was confusing and I am fascinated by the fact that the Czech Television has detailed information on talks of Angela Merkel with me and Václav Klaus, as the question was asked in a very negative way. I must say that those talks were very positive. By the way, part of our discussion was a discussion on the Danish way to the EU, which had not been easy at all. And I think that that the Danish example is interesting for us and I just asked for some time, so that we could accept certain European features similarly as it was in case of Danes.
Martin Schmarcz, Head of the Press Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic: Further question, please.
Lucie Petrová, ČTK: Good afternoon. I have two questions. The first one is to our Prime Minister – what is his opinion on the attitude of Denmark regarding its effort to conclude the new Treaty establishing Constitution for Europe by 2009 when the Czech Republic will preside over the EU? As far as I know, you did not want it to be included in the Berlin Declaration. And the second question is to the Danish Prime Minister – when will Denmark open fully its labour market for Czechs? Thank you.
Mirek Topolánek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: It is quite evident that by 2009, when the European Parliament elections will be held, certain unsolved issues, which are not solved by the Treaty of Nice, will have to be solved. The question is if they are to be solved by a new Treaty establishing Constitution for Europe or by a modified treaty or by different way. We do not anticipate it. However, we accept the deadline for a change of certain issues. As to the last passage of the Berlin declaration, we understand that the renewal of the common basis of the EU means return to the original values and we agree with the text in this sense.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark: First of all, I would like to say that I am for free movement of workers in Europe. Second, I would like to say that an attitude to the Danish market is absolutely free provided fulfilment of one condition and it is that foreign workers must work under the same conditions as Danish workers. The reason is to avert any discrimination of workers and it means also discrimination of foreign workers. I would like to point out that we need workers, because unemployment level is very low in Denmark, we need workers and I would like to emphasize that Czech workers are welcome in Denmark.
Mirek Topolánek, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic: We were discussing this problem, of course. I think that Danes are further in this sense than we are, because they abolished the minimum wage. We think it is a right way and in connection with this there are certain fears of a wage dumping regarding foreign workers. We understand their attitude, in spite of the fact that we are striving to abolish the moratorium for free movement of workers.
Martin Schmarcz, Head of the Press Department of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic: Ladies and gentlemen, I thank both Prime Ministers and I thank you for your attention.