The Czech authorities offered its priorities for its upcoming EU Presidency on Wednesday (15 June), foregrounding the problems of Ukraine’s EU candidate standing, alongside power safety. EURACTIV Czechia studies.
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is central to the Czech Presidency of the EU Council, each by way of offering humanitarian help for the nation and pushing for the granting of Ukraine’s EU candidate standing.
The Czech Republic has been among the many most vocal promoters of candidacy standing for Ukraine for the reason that starting of the struggle, along with Poland and the Baltic states, and has said its intention to make use of the presidency to “work in favour of reaching a consensus” on the difficulty. Czech EU Affairs Minister Mikuláš Bek just lately advised Czech media that he believed there’s broad help for such a transfer.
The Presidency can even help the “additional use of EU devices for arms provides to Ukraine”. In the course of the presentation of the Presidency priorities, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS, ECR), mentioned: “What we should do to finish the struggle is obvious. Put strain on Russia, keep European unity, proceed to help Ukraine and check out to make sure that Vladimir Putin’s aggressive plans don’t succeed.”
Fiala additionally emphasised the necessity for solidarity throughout the bloc to cope with the inflow of Ukrainian refugees, of which the Czech Republic has obtained over 350,000. In cooperation with the European Fee, the presidency will give attention to the allocation of adequate funding to the related member states, organisations and civil society actors who tackling the disaster.
Furthermore, the Czech Presidency hopes to organise an EU-Ukraine summit in October 2022, personally attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, relying on the safety scenario within the nation on the time.
Prague additionally needs to safe efficient implementation and enforcement of sanctions imposed once more Russia and help the investigation of struggle crimes in cooperation with the Worldwide Legal Courtroom.
Vitality safety ought to embrace nuclear initiatives
One other key precedence of the Czech Presidency can be pushing for the event of power infrastructure and constructing the resilience of the EU’s power sector.
Prague has confirmed its full help of the EU’s Match for 55 and REPowerEU legislative packages, together with all measures wanted to finish Europe’s dependency on Russian power imports by 2027.
“Final however not least, the Czech Presidency will give attention to the position of nuclear power in guaranteeing EU power safety and assembly the EU’s local weather targets,” the official doc, offered on 15 June, writes.
The position of nuclear power throughout the EU has been a hotly debated subject just lately, as on Tuesday (14 June) two European Parliamentary committees sought to dam nuclear and fuel from the EU’s inexperienced taxonomy, as was proposed within the Fee’s delegated act.
If the committees’ decision is backed by July’s parliamentary plenary, the Fee can be obliged to withdraw or amend the delegated act, a transfer that might discourage potential traders from nuclear venture funding.
Requested in regards to the controversial situation of the sustainability of nuclear power by EURACTIV.cz, Czech Prime Minister Fiala stood agency on the nation’s help for nuclear initiatives. “We’ll proceed to push for nuclear to be one of many supported power sources,” he mentioned.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged the sensitivity of the talk. “I can’t be afraid of the dialogue. It’s essential for the way forward for Europe.”
Ukraine and power safety apart, the Czech Presidency’s priorities embrace defence, cybersecurity and fortifying the bloc’s financial resilience – together with an emphasis on discovering new sources of uncooked supplies and essential applied sciences.
Prague can even be specializing in the strengthening of democratic rules by moderating discussions on the rule of legislation. Relating to ongoing disputes with Warsaw and Budapest over the difficulty, the Presidency has emphasised its dedication to making sure that “all stakeholders take a constructive method to resolving the present scenario”.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
