Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-14-Speech-3-019"
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"en.20090114.3.3-019"2
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".
Mr President-in-Office of the Council, no country has commenced its Presidency under such a barrage of negativity or been subjected to so many dire predictions as the Czech Republic. The French press in particular is falling over itself to depict the storm clouds gathering over the wretched Union because it is no longer presided over by someone as infinitely able as the French President but has instead been taken over by a band of Czechs.
Those Czechs indeed, who have caused such deadly offence by not yet ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon, under which a few large countries will permanently usurp decision-making within the Union. To make matters worse, those Czechs have a popular president with a disagreeably sharp intellect who not only opposes the Treaty of Lisbon, but can competently call attention to the ever-widening democratic deficit in the Union. It was because of such a deficit that, twenty years ago, we overthrew socialism in our country.
Yet the Czech Presidency is pursuing restrained objectives and sensible priorities, and will be very successful. Let us wish it well and give it our support, despite the embarrassing howls from the Czech Socialists who have long since exchanged love of country for proletarian internationalism, and thus today, on the instructions of their socialist masters, venomously seek to destabilise the Czech Presidency. I could not care less!
The plot is for the Czech Presidency to demonstrate that small countries are inept and that it is time permanently to hand over the reins of the Union, via the Treaty of Lisbon, to the large, capable and experienced countries. This is what makes this Presidency so important. It will prove that smaller countries are equally capable of managing the EU. What sets them apart is that they steer clear of megalomania, self-centredness, public relations hysteria, the self-indulgent hyperactivity of certain presidents and constant bragging about non-existent achievements.
I wholeheartedly wish Prime Minister Topolánek, Deputy Prime Minister Vondra and the rest much success. This will be more than just the success of my own country; it will be the success of a small and new country. That is the important message for the EU. You see, we have experience in one other area too. While the largest EU countries have lived as predictable democracies and have learned to deal only with standard situations, we have spent half a century living under a highly non-standard totalitarian regime. This has taught us to find creative solutions to non-standard situations, which is going to come in useful."@en1
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