Current Affairs Is the Czech right becoming more Euro-sceptic?
The Civic Democrats, the right wing opposition party widely tipped to win the next parliamentary elections, have officially adopted a policy rejecting the planned European Constitution outright. This puts the party in line with the most firmly Euro-sceptic forces in the EU, such as the British Conservatives. Although the Civic Democrat's honorary chairman, President Vaclav Klaus, has never hidden his strongly Euro-sceptic views, this is the first time that the whole party leadership has come down behind him. But at the same time polls suggest that Civic Democrat voters are much less Euro-sceptic then the party itself. Martin Mikule phoned Ivo Slosarcik from the Prague Institute for European Policy, and asked him whether he saw a paradox in the party's stand.
Photo: European Commission
"Yes, it's a kind of paradox between the relatively
Euro-optimist electorate of
the Civic Democratic Party and the rather Euro-sceptic point of view of
the
political elite in this party. However, I have to say that it's relative
Euro-scepticism. Political elites in the Civic Democratic Party are
generally pro European integration but they object to several aspects
including European Constitution. However, even within this elite there are
ideological splits and we can not simply understand the whole party as a
single homogeneous group with one view of the European
constitution."
How about President Vaclav Klaus - the honorary chairman of the Civic Democrats? He is not only Euro-sceptical; he is directly rejecting the European Constitution. Do you think his opinions are different from the general opinion of the Civic Democrats?
Ivo Slosarcik
"It's hard to evaluate what is going on inside the Civic
Democratic
Partz and what is the real power of President Klaus. He has at least
three channels to influence the Czech position. Firstly he can influence
the position of the Civic Democrats via the internal channels inside the
Civic Democratic Party but we can expect that these trends of this line of
communication will be weaker and weaker as Vaclav Klaus is getting further
away from the real political everyday life of the Civic Democratic
Party.
Secondly, of course, Klaus can influence the public opinion of the Czech Republic in general. I think we can expect rather strong words in the pre-referendum campaign - if there will be any referendum.
Thirdly, the president has relatively strong formal power. He can refer the question of the ratification process to the Constitutional Court and ask the Constitutional Court to evaluate the constitutionality of the whole process."
Would you be able to estimate when the referendum could take place in the Czech Republic, and what the possible result could be?
"It's hard to estimate. It's likely to be in the second half of 2005 or early 2006. Regarding its result, I think that majority of the people in the Czech Republic will support the ratification of the constitution with the exception of a situation when some other big European country refuses the constitution before the Czech Republic."
