Česká republika s SZBP/SBOP: Od pasivní absorpce k aktivní transformaci české zahraniční politiky
Czech Republic with OSCE: From passive absorption to active transformation of Czech foreign policy

Author(s): Petr Kratochvíl, Vít Beneš, Mats Braun, Tomáš Dopita, Vladimír Handl, Michal Kořan
Subject(s): International relations/trade, Security and defense, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: Ústav mezinárodních vztahů
Keywords: Czech Foreign Policy; OSCE; Cze EU-accession;
Summary/Abstract: While in the pre-accession period, the Czech Republic focused mainly on the internal functioning of the European Union and the adaptation deriving from it. The situation changed dramatically after joining the EU. For the first time, the Czech Republic has been given the right to participate actively in the decision-making process on EU policies and thus contribute to strengthening cooperation between EU Member States. Although the Czech political elites continued to deal primarily with the institutional mechanisms of EU functioning, the Czech representation in these mechanisms and the functioning of the internal market, membership of the Union had - and still has - a substantial impact on the foreign policy of the country. The representatives of the Czech Republic not only gradually understood the functioning and principles of EU external policy making but also gained experience with the representation of the European Union externally (eg. during the Czech Presidency of the Council). This experience had a major impact on the formation of Czech foreign policy; the Czech elites, however, were somewhat ambivalent about this development because their previous experiences with equivalent cooperation in the multilateral format were very limited.

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