In the Media

Our senior researchers Kateřina Davidová and Vít Havelka provided comments for an article in Deník N on what the government is facing and what role the presiding state has in the development of EU legislation.

What of the Czech priorities can be achieved and what will be the biggest problem? Is there anything missing to reach a consensus among Member States on gas purchases? Our Senior Research Fellow Vít Havelka was a guest on Czech Radio Plus's Topic of the Day.

Our research fellow Žiga Faktor commented for the Belgian daily La Libre on the topic of Czech Euroscepticism. The positive attitude of Václav Havel (the so-called great European) towards Europe was also reflected in the incoming Czech presidency, specifically in the motto "Europe as a task". The motto is inspired by his speech in Cácy in 1996. Despite a positive attitude in the past, according to the latest data from STEM, only 33 % of Czechs have a positive view of the Czech Republic's EU membership.

The Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU begins today. One of the challenges that the Czech Republic will face is the possible extension of sanctions against Russia, for instance in the gas sector. However, the geographical proximity of Ukraine to the Czech Republic should facilitate negotiations on this issue. Žiga Faktor, head of our Brussels office, commented on this topic for the Slovenian online daily DELO.

Our senior researcher Jana Juzová wrote an article for server Info.cz about the Brussels summit of EU leaders. In her commentary, she discusses in more detail what topics were on the agenda and whether the question of future EU enlargement was answered.

Our research fellow Zuzana Stuchlíková commented on the ongoing negotiations on the European summit to help further joint action towards Russia and European energy independence. What will the energy crisis mean for the incoming Czech presidency?

The news server iDnes.cz published a commentary by our Senior Research Fellow Jana Juzová. In her commentary, she discusses Ukraine's candidate status and compares it with the situation in the Balkans, where some countries have been waiting for EU membership for decades.

Ukrainian and Moldovan candidacy. What do these countries have to fulfill in order to be admitted to the EU? Is there political will among the Member States to accept new members into the EU? Is the granting of candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova also a symbolic gesture toward Russia? Our senior researcher Jana Juzová answers these questions in the studio of ČT24.

Our researchers Kateřina Davidová and Michal Hruby commented for the news website Ekonews. In the article, they comment on ETS and their reform, which was approved by the European Parliament.

On Monday 20 June, the National Seminar on the topic of CO2 capture and storage in geological structures (CCS) took place, which was the subject of a media report on the news website E15, where Michal Hrubý, a Research Fellow at the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, talks about the topic.

Michal Hrubý, our Research Fellow, commented on the topic of the Czech EU Presidency in an article for the news server E15 in which he addresses the issue of gas from Russia. The article also compares the situation with 2009, when the Czech Republic held the EU Council Presidency for the first time.

Our research fellow Žiga Faktor commented on the fall of the bulgarian government in the main news programme of Radio Slovakia. The government there lasted only six months in power. One of the reasons for the fall is, among other things, the dispute over EU enlargement. According to our researcher, recent weeks suggest that Sofia is willing to back down from its Veto, which would give the stagnant enlargement process a new impulse. He also mentions that the political instability in the Balkans suits pro-Russian parties.