Press Advisories

18. 10. 201723:56

The V4 Prime Ministers and Commission Chairman Juncker: no country may be excluded from the negotiations on the future of the EU

Yesterday evening, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and his colleagues from the Visegrad Group discussed the future of European integration and the themes of the October European Council session, which starts today in Brussels, with the European Commission Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker.

“We held a very open debate with the Commission Chairman. Our message to the European Commission was clear. The future of the European Union must involve unity, the involvement of all the member states, which must play the main role, and respect for the European Council as the leader of the entire debate,” said Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka.

During dinner, the Prime Ministers of the countries in the Visegrad Group repeatedly emphasised that the unity of the member states will be critical in the upcoming months and that the EU27 must avoid any division into east and west. The Prime Ministers of the V4 also spoke in a similar vein at a meeting with the Chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk last week in Bratislava. This Friday, Tusk is supposed to present specific proposals for the twenty-seven’s further steps to the EU leaders.

In this regard, it will be important for the Czech Republic and for other states for all of these initiatives to be discussed in the EU27 format. This trend should also be confirmed at the December Euro-summit, which should be open to all member states regardless of whether or not they use the Euro.

"The V4 agreed with Jean-Claude Juncker that any further discussions on the future of the EU must take place in the format of twenty-seven member states and that no country may be excluded from these discussions. The Chairman of the Commission repeatedly emphasised to us that the European Commission is well aware of the fact that the EU needs the eastern and western states of Europe. All states must be treated the same," is how the Prime Minister assessed the discussions. Questions pertaining to the dual quality of foodstuffs, the directive on sending employees abroad, the functioning of the EU’s internal market and Brexit were also discussed at the dinner.