Albanian judiciary under construction

Albanian judiciary under construction

Author(s): Megi Bakiasi / Language(s): English

Keywords: Albanian judiciary;

The Albanian judicial system is a civil law system that is codified and based on the French law. The actual Constitution6 was compiled with the assistance of the EU; the laws of the country have all been modified and adapted so that they are compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental rights of the European Union. The 2016 reform of the judiciary was not any different as it was compiled under a close surveillance from the EU and it was based on a European standard of how the judiciary branch should function.

Health and Public communication in the era of conspiracy theories

Health and Public communication in the era of conspiracy theories

Author(s): Milan Urbaník / Language(s): English

Keywords: Covid 19;

The Czech government is under increased pressure to persuade citizens to vaccinate themselves against Covid-19. The strong presence of anti-vaccination movements, as well as general scepticism of Czech public against vaccination represents a serious challenge for public communication. To communicate effectively in the context of conspiracy theories, the Czech Ministry of Health should follow simple best practices to persuade citizens to vaccinate. The messages communicated should be clear and simple, delivered by reliable and familiar messengers. Furthermore, the right channels should be considered, and various governmental institutions should be consistent in their messages. In addition to the short-term adjustments, the Ministry of Health should consider employing or training health communication experts that would design, pre-test and evaluate health campaigns to realise the full persuasive potential of health communication.

Citizenship and residency by investment in the EU

Citizenship and residency by investment in the EU

Author(s): Rose Hartwig-Peillon / Language(s): English

Keywords: RCBI; EU citizenship; residence rights;

Whilst the granting of citizenship and residence rights remain a national competence, they represent a challenge for the entire Union. Indeed, in addition to being ethically questionable, Residency and Citizenship by Investment (RCBI) schemes pose a serious security threat to the European Union as a whole. The evidence gathered suggests that companies specializing in citizenship consultancy have become experts in exploiting the schemes’ loopholes, using this knowledge on behalf of their clients to circumvent EU rules. The lack of transparency of the programs allows corruption to bloom and thrive, and the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to increase the demand for such schemes. Hence, this paper calls for a major redesign of the existing programs and for an EU-wide debate on the schemes at the occasion of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

What to expect from the new Fit for 55 climate and energy package?

Co čekat od nového klimaticko-energetického balíčku Fit for 55?

Author(s): Lucie Vinařská / Language(s): Czech

In July, the European Commission is expected to present the long-awaited climate and energy legislative package called »Fit for 55«, which refers to a new climate target for 2030. In December 2020, the European Union approved an increase in the 2030 emissions reduction target from the original 40% to the new 55% (compared to 1990 levels). With this step, the EU wants to move closer to its declared goal of climate neutrality by 2050. Therefore, high hopes are placed on the new Fit for 55 package. However, the question remains what reforms the legislative package will bring and what this will mean for the Czech Republic.

Transatlantic Strategy – Where Does Central and Eastern Europe Stand?

Transatlantic Strategy – Where Does Central and Eastern Europe Stand?

Author(s): Danielle Piatkiewicz / Language(s): English

Keywords: Transatlantic relations;

As the world continues to watch how the US develops its new foreign policy orientation, one thing is certain – if Central and Eastern Europe want to play a strategic role in building the new transatlantic agenda, they should focus on areas including: strengthening their security posture especially under the framework of NATO, countering geopolitical threats such as Russia and China, and addressing the growing democratic backsliding and rule of law in their neighborhood. If not, the region can become susceptible to further division by internal and external actors and undermine EU cohesion. This remains a core aspect of building the new transatlantic relationship as the US wants to engage with a cohesive EU, not a fragmented one. This analysis will take a snapshot of Biden’s foreign and security policies towards the EU and in particular, the Central and Eastern European region. It will provide a range of recommendations on how they can engage closer as partners over the next four years and beyond.

Analysing EU’s Sahel strategies: A civilian approach in the era of pragmatism

Analysing EU’s Sahel strategies: A civilian approach in the era of pragmatism

Author(s): Vojtěch Freitag / Language(s): English

In the past few months, developments in the vast African Sahel region are once again becoming a concern for the European policymakers. Attacks in Burkina Faso, a violent death of the Chadian president or a second coup d’état in Mali in a year followed by a recent French announcement of suspension of Operation Barkhane, all of these events prove significant for the EU in the light of its extensive engagement in the region, embodied, among other things, with two civilian (EUCAP Sahel Mali and Niger) and one military mission (EUTM Mali) under the CSDP umbrella. This April, the EU has unveiled and adopted a brand-new long-term 2021 Sahel strategy, which should reflect the turbulent development and better coordinate the multiple policies and instruments the EU pursues in the region. Does it signal a notable change in EU’s course of action in Sahel? How does it relate to the ‘pragmatist turn’ in the EU’s foreign policy? And what particular issues do the three CSDP missions face? This paper aims to address these questions by analysing past and present EU Sahel strategies and practices, positions them into the wider EU foreign policy context, and presents a recommendation to a specific aspect that remains challenging.

Topics: Czech 2022 Presidency to the Council of the EU

Topics: Czech 2022 Presidency to the Council of the EU

Author(s): Vít Havelka / Language(s): English

The Czech Republic will hold its rotating presidency to the EU Council in the second half of 2022. Czechs will be in charge of the EU for the second time after their historical first presidency in 2009 that suffered from the collapse of the Czech government and subsequent political turmoil. Today, Czechs are preparing to don the mantle once again, and one would presume they would want to prove that their public administration and politicians are able to lead the EU, and that media would be filled with reports about the preparatory work. Looking at the current political discussion, however, the exact opposite is true. Most media reporting has concentrated on the political battle over the presidency budget, but almost nothing has been written on the actual topics and priorities of the Czech programme. The academic sphere and pundits are also falling short of their role as agenda-setters, consultants and opinion makers.

Priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU

Priority předsednictví České republiky v Radě EU

Author(s): Vladimír Bartovic / Language(s): Czech

The country assuming the presidency has to deal with a wide range of tasks. It is responsible for preparing the agenda for Council meetings at various levels, in cooperation with the General Secretariat of the Council for the administrative management of the Council's activities, for representing the Council towards other EU institutions and third parties, and for negotiating agreements between Member States. At the same time, the presidency country strives to fulfil its own individual objectives and priorities. In order to effectively fulfil the objectives of the EU in general and the priorities of the individual presidencies, each Member State participates in the preparation of an eighteen-month programme within the framework of the so-called trio of countries. The Czech Republic, as in 2009, will cooperate with France and Sweden.

Conference on the Future of Europe from the Perspective of the Czech Republic

Konference o budoucnosti Evropy z pohledu České republiky

Author(s): Vladimír Bartovic,Vít Havelka,Zuzana Kasáková / Language(s): Czech

In July 2019, the current President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented an initiative to organize a Conference on the Future of Europe as part of the political priorities of the new Commission. Its goal should be to transform the European Union so that it can adequately respond to current and future challenges, strengthen its democratic character and meet the needs of EU citizens. To this end, not only EU institutions and individual national actors, but above all EU citizens should be involved in the debate on the future of the European Union. According to the President of the EC, they should become the engine of change in the further direction of the integration process. One of the arguments for emphasizing the need to debate the reform of the European Union in a broader context was the higher participation of EU citizens in the elections to the European Parliament, which took place in the spring of last year and in which voter turnout reached the highest level in the last twenty years.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum and the Future of Migration Policy

Nový pakt o migraci a azylu a budoucnost migrační politiky

Author(s): Christian Kvorning Lassen,Vladimír Bartovic / Language(s): Czech

Keywords: migration policy;

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum represents a paradigm shift in the EU's external and internal approach to migration. The proposal recognises the need to restore trust in the asylum and migration system while stimulating fair responsibility-sharing and solidarity, while externally focusing on a stronger focus on protecting the EU's external borders and a more effective return policy. Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson preemptively stated that no one would be satisfied with the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, but that "failure is simply not an option". She also stressed that migration is necessary and has always been and will always be part of Europe's heritage. Despite this softening of expectations, the initiative was generally welcomed by Member States. However, fundamental differences persist between Member States in their perceptions of migration and its management, in particular in the area of a fair balance between solidarity and responsibility. However, inaction would allow a repeat of the migration crisis, which would be unsustainable from both a humanitarian and political perspective. The new pact essentially seeks to reconcile the duty to protect with security concerns alongside humanitarian principles, without losing the domestic political capital of EU member state leaders, dilemmas that threatened EU cohesion during the migration crisis.

Current challenges in Healthcare at the European level

Aktuální výzvy v oblasti zdravotnictví na evropské úrovni

Author(s): Vít Havelka,Vladimír Bartovic,Zuzana Kasáková / Language(s): Czech

Keywords: COVID 19; pandemic;

The COVID-19 pandemic caught the European Union and its Member States in a state where they were unable to respond adequately to the emerging health threat. It became clear relatively early on that Europe did not have sufficient supplies of protective medical equipment and that crisis instruments were not working effectively enough to prevent the spread of the virus. The European institutions found themselves in a situation where COVID-19 was spreading across Europe and at the same time the EU could not do much about it – responding to health threats did not fall entirely within its competence. It was and still is the case that national governments are primarily responsible for creating strategic stocks of medical supplies and combating the emerging pandemic. The European Union has only limited and supportive competences.

Reform of the EU ETS emissions trading system

Reforma systému obchodování s emisními povolenkami EU ETS

Author(s): Kateřina Davidová / Language(s): Czech

In June this year, the European Commission is to present the expected package of changes to climate and energy legislation, the so-called Fit for 55, which is intended to help the European Union implement the newly increased target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990). The reform of the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which will be presented and discussed as part of this package, will play a key role in meeting the common European climate goal. With the rising price of allowances, it can be expected that the impact of the EU ETS on the economic and environmental decisions of states and companies will continue to increase. It is therefore crucial how this system will be set up in the coming years.

The strategic Autonomy of the European Union

Strategická autonomie Evropské Unie

Author(s): Tereza Novotna / Language(s): Czech

“EU strategic autonomy” has recently become a frequently used term in response to geopolitical changes: the US retreat from the role of guarantor of the international order, the growing power of China and the related conflict with the US, the stagnant multilateral system and global challenges (climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic). However, the concept appears much earlier, especially in connection with the EU’s security and defence policy. The EU Council first used it in November 2013 and the term took a prominent place in the text of the European Global Strategy from 2016. If “strategic autonomy” does not mean an effort to create complete self-sufficiency for the EU in the sense of severing the main existing partnerships, but rather to limit the EU’s dependence on external political and economic factors and strengthen the EU’s ability to defend its interests, it is necessary to discuss the following questions within the framework of the National Convention’s round table on the EU.

Program of the France – Czech Republic – Sweden Trio Presidency

Program předsednického tria Francie – Česká republika – Švédsko

Author(s): Zuzana Kasáková / Language(s): Czech

The Czech Republic will once again hold the presidency of the European Union next year after thirteen years. For the second time, it will also form a team presidency with France and Sweden, the political framework of which will be anchored in a joint eighteen-month programme. The aim of the group presidency is primarily to ensure continuity of the activities of the Council of the EU, to avoid fragmentation of its activities and to ensure continuity of decision-making processes.

EU relations with its Eastern Neighbourhood

Vztahy EU s východním sousedstvím

Author(s): Jana Juzová,Katharine Klačanský / Language(s): Czech

The Eastern Neighbourhood is one of the most important regions for the European Union due to its proximity, but it also presents a number of challenges. If the EU really wants to live up to its ambition to be a global power and exert its influence in different parts of the world, as the ambition of the current European Commission for a “geopolitical Union” suggests1, it needs to start as close to home as possible. This goal is served by the EU’s enlargement policy (relevant specifically to the Western Balkans) and the European Neighbourhood Policy, which distinguishes two initiatives – the Eastern Partnership (EaP) and the Union for the Mediterranean.

Background material for the National Convention's round table on the European Union .The territorial dimension of the internal market in global competition.

Podkladový materiál pro kulatý stůl Národního konventu o Evropské unii. Teritoriální rozměr vnitřního trhu v globální konkurenci.

Author(s): Kristína Chlebáková,Zuzana Kasáková,Vít Havelka / Language(s): Czech

EU trade policy is one of the most important agendas carried out by the European Union on the basis of instructions from the member states. It is one of the exclusive competences of the Union. This means that regulations relating to trade issues are not adopted by the member states, but by the European Union. The same applies to the conclusion of international trade agreements. The area of trade policy includes trade in goods and services, foreign direct investment or commercial aspects of intellectual property. It consists of trade agreements with non-EU countries, trade rules to protect European producers from unfair competition and membership in the World Trade Organization, where the EU represents all member states and thus speaks with one voice. In recent years, the structure of the globalized economy has been changing. Protectionist measures are being introduced by powerful actors in the international trade field or trade ties are being used in political and diplomatic disputes. At the same time, global economies are grappling with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exposed the vulnerability of supply chains, which could lead to a trend towards shortening them and deglobalization. These changes have been exacerbated in recent months in Europe by rising inflation, the energy crisis, and efforts to implement the European Green Deal and the digital transformation.

The territorial dimension of the internal market in global competition. Summary and recommendations resulting from the round table discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on 25 February 2022

Teritoriální rozměr vnitřního trhu v globální konkurenci. Shrnutí a doporučení vyplývající z diskuze kulatého stolu Národního konventu o EU konaného dne 25. února 2022

Author(s): Zuzana Kasáková,Kristína Chlebáková,Vít Havelka / Language(s): Czech

Keywords: Covid 19;

It was in response to the impacts of the pandemic that the European Union adopted a new concept of trade policy based on the principle of open strategic autonomy. By applying this principle, the Union wants to achieve a stable, values-based trading system that is open, focuses on diversifying supply chains and allows the EU access to key commodities. All this with an emphasis on strengthening the EU's ability to act and resilience. The new form of EU trade policy reflects and accentuates the European trend of maintaining a balance between openness and protection of the Union's internal market.

EU relations with the Indo-Pacific region from the perspective of the Czech Republic. Summary and recommendations resulting from the roundtable discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on 29 April 2022

Vztahy EU s indopacifickou oblastí z pohledu ČR. Shrnutí a doporučení vyplývající z diskuze kulatého stolu Národního konventu o EU konaného dne 29. dubna 2022

Author(s): Tereza Novotna,Alexandra Visnerova / Language(s): Czech

On the occasion of the launch of the EU Strategy for Indo-Pacific Cooperation in September 2021, High Representative Josep Borrell outlined the shift of “the world’s centre of gravity… towards the Indo-Pacific, both geo-economically and geopolitically.” High Representative Borrell spoke about possible areas of cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners. From a geopolitical perspective, however, the Indo-Pacific is also a region of growing political and security tension, which is closely linked to the increasing economic and political weight of the People’s Republic of China and the geopolitical competition with the United States. In addition, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the question remains how not only China, but also other Indo-Pacific countries will respond to this Russian aggression, including compliance with sanctions against the Russian Federation. All these aspects were addressed by the round table of the National Convention on the EU held on 29 April 2022.

Background document for the round table on the topic: Conclusions and implementation of the outcomes of the Conference on the Future of Europe

Podkladový dokument pro kulatý stůl na téma: Závěry a implementace výstupů Konference o budoucnosti Evropy

Author(s): Žiga Faktor / Language(s): Czech

Exactly one year after the start of the Conference on the Future of Europe, on 9 May 2022, at a closing ceremony in Strasbourg, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the French President Emmanuel Macron, on behalf of the Council of the EU, received the final report with proposals and measures, which was drawn up during the consultation with European citizens. However, behind the celebratory ceremony, there are conflicting feelings about the low number of citizens involved, the low interest of the media, as well as doubts about the subsequent implementation of the outputs of the citizens' panels and therefore also about the (un)success of the Conference itself.

Conclusions and implementation of outputs. Conference on the Future of Europe. Summary and recommendations resulting from the round table discussion of the National Convention on the EU held on June 3, 2022

Závěry a implementace výstupů. Konference o budoucnosti Evropy. Shrnutí a doporučení vyplývající z diskuze kulatého stolu Národního konventu o EU konaného dne 3. června 2022

Author(s): Žiga Faktor / Language(s): Czech

The outputs in the form of recommendations show that European citizens want a stronger and more decisive European Union. It will be up to the Union institutions and member states to commit to at least some of these outputs and implement them. The following months will be crucial for the Conference to fulfil at least part of its potential and thus leave a positive impact on the future of the Union. It is precisely the different political views on the outputs of the Conference that currently appear to be problematic, and it will be up to the Czech Republic to try to find consensus on the implementation of some of the outputs of the Conference during its presidency.