Prague, Dec 6 (CTK) – The future government should follow the valid strategy of the Czech Republic in the European Union during the EU talks and discuss possible changes in the document transparently, the Senate agreed today in a debate about the country’s position for the upcoming EU summit.
Next prime minister Andrej Babis (ANO), whom President Milos Zeman will appoint today and who is critical of the EU, is to represent the Czech Republic at the summit to be held in Brussels on December 14, a day after his minority government is to be appointed.
“The next government should act according to the valid strategy of the Czech Republic’s activity in the EU in fundamental matters, at least until the strategy is updated in a transparent way,” Senate EU affairs committee chairman Vaclav Hampl said, conveying the committee’s proposal.
The summit of the European Council in mid-December will primarily deal with common defence, migration and the future of the EU.
According to the current draft mandate, the Czech Republic is to support the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) project of strengthening EU cooperation in defence. In a debate on migration, in which no formal conclusions are expected, Prague should insist on its disagreement with the obligatory migrant quotas, outgoing Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said.
The Senate asked the government to inform it sufficiently beforehand if it intended to deviate from the current strategy in the mandate for the prime minister.
At the beginning of November, Babis said his government should actively participate in the EU reform and promote national interests more resolutely.
He said he would like to seek partners even outside the Visegrad Four Group (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) for the fight against illegal migration and dual quality of food products.
Babis also opposed the introduction of the euro and labelled the common European currency as a “collapsing” project in June.