European policies of the Visegrad countries
European policies of the Visegrad countries

Summary/Abstract: The growing importance of the Visegrad Group within the EU arena gives Central European states a real opportunity to take part in shaping the future of the continent. So far, the V4 has been active mostly on issues concerning cohesion or EU neighborhood policies, and there has not been much room for strategic thinking about the future of the EU. The Visegrad states prefer to tackle the dilemmas of EU institutional reform alone, or in ad hoc coalitions with other states. This paper demonstrates that even though there are important discrepancies between V4 members regarding their EU policies, there is still a significant list of priorities shared by all V4 states – e.g. support for community method, applicability of the same rules for all member states, openness of the eurozone reform process to non-eurozone members, and strengthening of the single market. This set of priorities, however, does not constitute any common V4 vision of the post-crisis EU. The paper argues that the Visegrad Group can provide a stable, proven-in-practice coalition for the turbulent times of the crisis. Unfortunately, the uncertain course of events in the markets does not help leaders to abandon the perspective of a single electoral term. This seems to be a major obstacle to articulating active and courageous visions. Nevertheless, in order to retain its growing international position, the V4 must try to develop a common stance on the future shape of the EU.

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