Press Advisories

15. 7. 200915:08

The beginning of 2009 was a period of tough tests

Czech Premier Jan Fischer today addressed the European Parliament. In his speech he summed up and evaluated primarily how the Czech EU presidency had met its priorities.

In his review he mentioned the key tasks the Czech Republic and the whole Union had to face without warning: this was mainly the natural gas crisis and the conflict in Gaza.

“The first half of 2009 will go down in EU history as a period of challenging tests posed by the complex economic and political situation,“ the Czech Prime Minister was quoted as saying.

In his evaluation, Jan Fischer admitted that the fall of the Czech Government was another endurance test for the Czech presidency. He went on to say that this particular situation was not very fortunate, nevertheless he believes that the political crisis in the Czech Republic has not harmed the EU as a whole.

“I am convinced that regardless of the event, which caused some shock and uncomprehending shaking of heads in the EU, we managed the administration of our presidency without any upheavals. And we succeeded in meeting our priorities, the planned tasks ensuing from the EU agenda, while solving unexpected topical problems throughout the six months continuously and with full dedication,“ Jan Fischer said.

The Premier then briefly commented on the individual priorities of the Czech presidency known as three “Es“: Economy, Energy, and the European Union in the World. He singled out the adopted measures concerning the struggle with the impact of the economic crisis, energy security and promotion of the single foreign policy, which includes primarily enlargement of the European Union.