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21. Czechs and the EU Brand: How do Czechs feel about the EU and what could change their mind?

Author:
Vít Havelka
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
This study is mainly based on a series of 12 brief surveys by Behavio research agency and on longitudinal research by STEM Institute for Empirical Research. The expert’s inputs were provided by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy. The Czech Republic could serve as a kind of laboratory for investigating anti-EU sentiments. Czechs’ perception of the EU membership is the poorest of all the EU citizens, (mere 33 % view it as a good thing). Not even half of the adult Czech population (47 %) would vote to stay in the EU, despite having a booming economy and bearing almost no impact of the migration crisis. Moreover, the Czech economy is strongly export-oriented and benefits from the EU budget. Thus these negative sentiments seem to be very much about emotions and image. Czechs’ feelings toward the EU are similar to other Visegrad (V4) countries in many ways, but these similarities are less prominent than one would expect – especially in the case of Slovakia, where attitudes towards NATO and the EU are reversed. In many aspects, Czech Eurosceptics have been more influenced by British and Italian politicians than by their counterparts in Slovakia, Hungary or Poland. The popularity of the EU in the Czech Republic has been very volatile over the past 15 years. It was even modest at the beginning and the first disillusion came soon after the country’s accession, but was quickly countered by the Czech presidency of EU in 2009. EU’s image dropped again during the global economic downturn and the Eurozone crisis, which played a relatively strong role in the 2010 national election campaign. The migration crisis worsened negative sentiments even further, despite having little direct effect on the country. The recently observed increase in popularity can be mostly attributed to the country’s economic growth.
Topic:
Public Opinion, European Union, and Survey
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

22. EU MONITOR: Has the time come for a Czech Regional Policy?

Author:
Vít Havelka
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
Over the past 5 years, the Czech Republic has experienced unprecedented GDP growth, moving the country from 83% of EU average GDP in 2013 to 91% of the EU average GDP in 2019. At the same time, the Czech wage increased by more than 7% in 2013 in the last three years. This phenomenon is addressed by our Vít Havelka in the latest issue of the EU Monitor. The following decade will likely be determining for the future success of the Czech Republic. The global economy and its supply chains are undergoing a significant shift; Asian states are slowly becoming innovative leaders rather than being a cheap labour pool. Furthermore, the Czech Republic is heavily dependent on the automotive industry3, which is under pressure not only by stricter emission regulation, but also disruptive market change such as autonomous systems, digitalization and electrification. It is likely that old market strategies will prove obsolete as it happened in case of cell phones. Along with the changing global economy, the Czech Republic is nearing to a point where it will not be fully able to rely on the EU Cohesion Policy anymore. The country has reached the threshold of 90% EU ́s average GDP, and if the current economic development remains the same, the Czech Republic will not have access to Cohesion Funds after the coming MFF, and it will receive significantly less money from the EU budget. The problem is that regional disparities within the Czech Republic remain high, especially between the capital city Prague and the rest of the country. Simultaneously, since the EU accession in 2004, the Czech Republic relied mainly on the EU Cohesion Policy in terms of providing funding for regions, supplementing the EU ́s activity only with minor national contributions. As a result, the country does not have a well-developed culture of regional policy that would be nationally funded, and there is not even a discussion in the media about national solidarity with disadvantaged regions. The following paper aims at discussing a possible way forward for the Czech Republic, especially in the context of expected changes in global economy and simultaneous decrease of EU Funding that could help mitigate the impact of economic disruptions. The focus will be laid on possible If the whole automotive left the Czech Republic, Deloitte estimates that the Czech GDP would decrease by 25% and 1,4 million Czechs would lose their reaction to lower income from the EU, as it is presumed that a solid regional policy is crucial in maintaining internal cohesion and contributes to mitigation of economic turbulences.
Topic:
European Union, GDP, Global Political Economy, and Economic growth
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

23. EU MONITOR: Brexit, now what? Examining the future of Central and Eastern European security post-Brexit

Author:
Danielle Piatkiewicz
Publication Date:
02-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
In her latest EU monitor, Danielle Piatkiewicz explores the future of Central and Eastern European security after Brexit. January 31st will begin the long-awaited legal withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. As the UK disengages politically, Europe’s existing security structure will undergo reconstruction as EU Member States reevaluate their future without the UK as active members established security including CSDP, NATO, PESCO, among others. As the UK seeks bilateral partnerships post-Brexit, steadfast security consumers like Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) should gauge how Brexit will affect their security region. With external threats mounting in the East, the CEE region relies heavily on the existing security blanket that Europe and NATO have provided. As one of the strongest European militaries, an engaged or disengaged UK will certainly affect the security environment, but it will be up to how the EU and CEE countries react and adapt, that will impact the future security of their region once Brexit takes effect.
Topic:
Security, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Brexit
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, Czech Republic, and Central Europe

24. The future of EU Finances: New Own Resources

Author:
Markéta Mlčúchová
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
Reform of the EU budget is not necessarily of a technical character, rather it is a response to the growing Euroscepticism and populism within EU Member States. Besides restoring the citizens’ confidence and belief in the EU, it is necessary to ascertain that the budget of the EU is prepared and sufficiently agile to react to the growing global instability, migration flows, terrorism, and ensure both internal and external security, combat climate change and the financial drop caused by the exit of the UK. Despite the fact the EU budget has gone through multiple - mostly minor - reforms, those were inefficient in keeping it up with current times. In the context of the financial and migration crises, the budget was not prepared to react to unexpected developments... This contributed, inter alia, to loss of confidence among EU citizens and caused damage to the EU credibility. Reform of the revenue side of the budget is entirely legitimate and essential yet provides only a partial solution to the situation. Revenues reform should be, in any case, accompanied by a critical re-assessment of expenditures, as was emphasized by the EU Commission in its Reflection Paper, since a close link between the expenditures and revenues exists. Although this paper focuses exclusively on the side of revenues, it is important to underline that any reform concerning revenues would not be enough for a successful reform of the EU budget. Only a complex re-design of the whole system can restore the trust and bring about the desired results.
Topic:
Climate Change, European Union, Carbon Tax, and Carbon Emissions
Political Geography:
Europe

25. The challenges of the military integration in the EU: an approach to the heterogeneity of weapon system categories

Author:
Adrian Blasquez
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
The subject of EU's defence has been treated as a political challenge widely covered in the media in recent years. However, less attention has been paid to the troubles it presents at the military level. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on this issue, specifically, on the challenges that multiplicity of weapon systems in Europe entail, and the potential advantages and challenges pooled public procurement and harmonization of defence entails. To this end, it will briefly review the collaborative projects that have taken place in the last decades to focus later on two initiatives launched at EU level: the PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) and the EDF (European Defence Fund). Hereinafter, it will touch upon the implications this phenomenon has for the defence market and armaments standardization.
Topic:
Military Affairs, European Union, Weapons, and Regional Integration
Political Geography:
Europe

26. An Arduous Path: Are Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania Ready to Join the Area?

Author:
Žiga Faktor
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
The concept of free movement between European countries anchored in the Schengen Agreement, manifested in the creation of the borderless Schengen Area, is arguably one of the great achievements of European integration. By facilitating conditions for trade, services and movement of citizens, the Schengen Area acts as one of the converging economic factors for Member States. Decision on the dissolution of state borders is generally seen as a positive step for economic development, regional integration and a sign of trust between the countries. Nevertheless, it also raises many questions and challenges, especially on the topic of security and compliance of national laws with rules and conditions set in the Agreement. This article will focus on the accession of Croatia, Bulgaria and Romania to the Schengen Area and discuss the main difficulties and obstacles for each country.
Topic:
European Union, Economy, Trade, and Schengen
Political Geography:
Europe, Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia

27. MFF Negotiations: What Czechs think of the latest development

Author:
Vít Havelka
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
The original goal of the previous European Commission – to finish the post 2020 multiannual financial framework (MFF) negotiations by the end of the year – is shattered. The December European Council did not reach any final decision, so the earliest deadline is the March EC meeting, with a possibility of slipping into German presidency in the second half of 2020. This would leave a very little time for preparation of partnership agreements with the member states, thus potentially leading to disruption in utilization of EU funding. As of now, it seems that the EU has still a long way to go until it reaches agreement over the future MFF. Member states are negotiating not only about the total size of the future European budgets, but also allocations to various headings or system of resources.
Topic:
Budget, European Union, Financial Markets, and Negotiation
Political Geography:
Europe and Czech Republic

28. Serbia's state of play regarding Chapters 23 and 24: One step forward, two steps back

Author:
Jana Juzová
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
The discussion on the future of EU enlargement was opened again this year. After yet another disappointment for Albania and North Macedonia at the European Council’s session in October, the discussion turned towards a revision of the enlargement methodology. The argument that the enlargement process needs to undergo a reform, put forward by France as a justification of its October veto for Albania and North Macedonia, is based on the fact that the current process is not delivering adequately. That is true especially for the current frontrunners, Montenegro and Serbia, setting a bad example for other candidate countries in the region and giving more reasons to oppose enlargement to some already sceptical EU Member States. Both countries’ progress on the accession path has recently slowed down significantly, with some suggesting that the current low number of chapters that are being opened and closed, and progress only on “technical” rather than substantial matters, is due to the serious problems both countries have in the area of rule of law and democratic standards.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, European Union, and Negotiation
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Serbia

29. The Unfulfilled Promise of Kosovo Visa Liberalization

Author:
Jana Juzová
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
Kosovo’s path towards visa liberalization started in 2012 when the European Commission submitted the Visa Liberalization Roadmap for Kosovo. This step was long awaited by the small country as all the other five Western Balkan states started the dialogue already in May and June 2008. At that time, it was still being decided inside EU member states whether they would recognize the newly declared state1 and it was clear that there is no consensus across the EU. As the united EU approach towards Kosovo proved to be a difficult and sensitive issue due to the concerns that opening visa dialogue would imply recognition, Kosovo was left out from the process. The length of the visa liberalization process differed among the Western Balkan countries. Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia progressed rather swiftly, and the dialogue was closed with the decision to lift the visa regime for these countries in late-2009. Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina had to wait one year longer as their readiness and fulfilment of conditions was evaluated as insufficient in 2009. Kosovo, lagging behind the rest of the region, opened the dialog with the EU in 2012, at the same time as Georgia. While Georgian citizens already reached a successful end of the process and are allowed to travel to the EU without visa since March 2017, it is still uncertain when Kosovo will achieve this objective.
Topic:
Immigration, European Union, Borders, and Visa
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Kosovo

30. Untying the Gordian Knot of the Common European Asylum System: Dublin IV Reform

Author:
Shang-Yen Lee and Christian Kvorning Lassen
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Europeum Institute for European Policy
Abstract:
The latest policy paper by our Shang-Yen Lee and Christian Kvorning Lassen focuses on the reform of Dublin IV regulation under the Common European Asylum System and its prospects after the EP elections. The reform of Dublin IV regulation under the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) has stagnated for years, leaving the EU ill-prepared for future migration and asylum challenges. A reform of Dublin IV is a prerequisite to a comprehensive CEAS reform towards greater solidarity and fairer sharing of responsibilities between the Member States, yet divisions between Parliament and Commission as well as liberal and ‘illiberal’ fault lines have complicated the reform process. The EP elections will most likely stagnate the process further due to a surge in nationalist Eurosceptic MEP’s, which could delay CEAS reform for the foreseeable future, to the detriment of the EU.
Topic:
Reform, Elections, European Union, and Asylum
Political Geography:
Europe