Hospodářské noviny | To finally have influence in Brussels. The government is pushing the maximum number of Czechs into the new European Commission

According to Politico, two thousand people have sent their CVs to the future head of the EU's common foreign policy, Kaja Kallas. This way they are applying for a place in her cabinet, i.e. in the team of her closest collaborators. Including assistants, there are usually up to 20 people in the cabinets of individual commissioners. Viktor Daněk, deputy director of the EUROPEUM Institute, and Filip Křenek, EUROPEUM analyst, commented for Hospodářské noviny.

Our governments have never been very good at negotiating cabinet seats. Five years ago, it ended in a debacle for Andrej Babiš's government.

If Czechia wants to increase its influence in the EU, it is strategic to elect a Czech to head the cabinet who will be interested in staying in a high-ranking position in Brussels after the end of his or her five-year mandate and strengthening the Czech voice in European institutions.

Read the whole article here.

Filip Křenek
Project Coordinator and Analyst

Viktor Daněk
Deputy Director

Before entering the NGO sphere, Viktor Daněk worked for almost ten years as a journalist. During his time with the public service Czech radio, he focused mainly on covering EU affairs. He spent almost five years as a permanent correspondent in Brussels, where he cooperated with other media outlets. Before his career in journalism, he gained experience in the area of marketing and communication in the Česká spořitelna banking group and at the Czech Technical University in Prague. He holds university degrees in Media Studies and International Relations. Viktor Daněk joined the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in October 2023. He continues to be active in the media as a freelancer. His main areas of interest are institutional questions of European integration, globalisation and the EU’s climate and migration policy.