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Afin de comprendre les enjeux de l’intégration européenne et nourrir le débat, le Cercle recueille le point de vue de responsables politiques et économiques ainsi que d’experts.

"Grâce à la Présidence tchèque, l’Union européenne est au centre des intérêts dans notre pays"

Štefan Füle

28 mai 2009

© Czech Republic GovernmentInterview de Štefan Füle, nouveau ministre tchèque des Affaires européennes. Suite à la chute du gouvernement dirigé par Mirek Topolanek, le 24 mars 2009 après le vote par la Chambre des députés d’une motion de censure, un cabinet intérimaire a été nommé en avril avec à sa tête, Jan Fischer. Le nouveau gouvernement est entré en fonction le 9 mai, avec comme principal objectif la conduite de la fin de la présidence tchèque de l’UE, qui s’achèvera par le Conseil européen des 18 et 19 juin.
Avant d’être nommé ministre des Affaires européennes, Štefan Füle était le Représentant permanent de la République tchèque auprès de l’OTAN depuis 2005. Diplomate de carrière, il a également été Ambassadeur extraordinaire et plénipotentiaire au Royaume Uni et en Irlande du Nord entre 2003 et 2005 et a occupé différents postes aux Nations Unies dans les années 90. Štefan Füle a connu une première expérience ministérielle entre 2001 et 2002 au poste de Vice-ministre de la Défense.

Le Cercle des Européens : Are European elections raising interest among public opinion and the media ?

Štefan Füle : Until recently the European elections have been clinging at the very fringe behind both the national and the regional polls in terms of public attention. Fortunately, there seem to be better prospects for the Czech Republic this time around. I ascribe it mainly to the fact that we are the current holders of the Presidency and the EU affairs have been getting greater media coverage, drawing more people in. Recent polls suggest there could be a significantly better turnout in June than the 28% which we had as the European newcomers back in 2004. Nonetheless, the overall European picture is regrettably less optimistic. A recent Eurobarometer poll found out that only about 34% Europeans are likely to vote at the June elections. The lack of interest has been an upsetting paradox throughout Europe. Increasing the competences of the European Parliament does not seem to be the right recipe for our citizens to tackle the democratic deficit of the EU. The more power the European Parliament gains the lower the election participation rate is. Europeans do not seem to fully appreciate the importance of being represented there and that is a worrisome. The European Parliament is, after all, one of the most important sources of legitimacy of the whole union.

What kind of measures did your government implement in order to encourage participation ?

Ever since I assumed the office of Minister for EU affairs at the beginning of May, the EP elections have been occupying together with the Presidency tasks the very top of my agenda. This government has unfortunately had only a few weeks to step into the public debate to encourage greater participation at the June polls. We are thus making the use of every media occasion to do so. We are very much aware that at times of an economic crisis and a general bad mood it is especially important to explain to voters that being passive will not help matters a great deal. It is only the extremist and anti-EU forces who benefit from the apathy. Besides our efforts to promote the importance of the EP in the media and in public debates, the government also uses all its EU related information tools to raise public awarness of the EP. These include the website euroskop.cz, “Eurofon” information telephone line, as well as financial support to publications, expert workshops and public debates focusing on EP elections. In addition, the Czech Eurocenters have run simulated EP meetings as well a competition “Say it to Europe" which gave secondary school students an opportunity to address MEPs. In cooperation with the European Commission and the European Parliament the government has also organized so called "Eurofestivals" – open air regional festivals featuring information about the upcoming EP elections.

What are the main topics of the European Election campaign and the main cleavages between the parties ?

I am pleased to say that a glance at the political spectrum reveals that in most cases Czech parties run well informed, balanced and pro-European campaigns for the June election. Compared to 2004 the campaign shifted from ideas to practice. While in 2004 the campaign was dominated by the theme of “return to Europe”, today political parties have hands on experience in the EU affairs and their programs to a great extent reflect the current most biting issues on the European agenda. A lot of attention is given to the economic crisis, energy security, future direction of the European integration and the Lisbon Treaty to name a few. Because of the national elections are approaching, individual parties give considerable attention to the domestic issues as well. Although parties with populist and extremist stances are visible in the campaign, they have been failing to stir considerable appeal so far.

When it comes to electoral behavior the traditional right wing – left wing division of political parties typical for national elections still represents the prevailing cleavage. I believe that when casting votes for the EP elections, even though people consider the attitude of individual political parties to the European integration, they ultimately prioritize them according to the same right-centre-left criteria they use for national polls. The public opinion surveys for the European Parliament election well demonstrate it. They display a similar pattern to those for national polls showing the two main parties ODS and CSSD running neck to neck. Moreover, parties counting on mainly on pan-European issues such as Libertas with the fight against the Lisbon Treaty have a very marginal public appeal. So as far as I am concerned the European elections have been causing neither any de-alignment from those parties traditionally dominating domestically nor the emergence of any major European cleavage.

What are your hopes and fears regarding the results of the elections ?

Let me tell you instead what my wish is. Thanks to the Czech Presidency the European Union has been the “talk of the town” in our country since January. A great deal of media attention has been given to all our six months stint entails. The Czech people therefore have had a better chance to see that the EU is not just about “those in Brussels”, but above all about us in all the 27 member states and that we all are responsible that it stays in a good shape. Selecting members for the European Parliament is a significant part of that responsibility given that electoral choices of the European citizens may get translated directly to the European level. I therefore wish that our experience at the helm of Europe reflects into a tangible election turnout delivering a strong political representation of the Czech Republic in the European Parliament.

The successful completion of the Czech Presidency is a top priority of your government. What are the high profile events remaining under the Czech Presidency and what kind of initiative will you launch ?

The new Czech government is well aware of the responsibility it bears on its shoulders for the successful completion of the EU Presidency. The Presidency engines are running in full speed. During the less than three weeks we have been in office three summits with EU’s major partners – China, Russia and the Republic of Korea - took place under the Czech leadership. Yet a major challenge, the June European Council, is still ahead of us. Institutional issues will dominate this meeting. To pull the European Council off successfully we will have to secure a Europe-wide agreement over the legal guarantees for Ireland, which are the pre-requisite for the re-run of their referendum on the Lisbon Treaty. This is of crucial importance – we do not have a plan B and should the entry into force of Lisbon Treaty fail, EU will face a major political crisis. Finding a consensus of all member states on the designation of the candidate for the President of the European Commission is another major task we will have to grapple with. The biting questions of the Climate Change and the reform of financial supervision of markets are other important matters on which the Czech Presidency is expected to move forward. We take no chances and are ready to stand up to this responsibility. In the meantime, we run regular consultations with Ireland regarding on the outlook of their guarantees. Moreover, the Prime Minister and myself are also about to embark on the European “tour des capitales” to discuss the Council’s agenda with our counterparts. We hope to run a successful summit in June delivering substantial conclusions that will be the culmination of the Czech Presidency.

After the recent Czech Senate approval of the Lisbon Treaty will you be able to complete the ratification process before the end of June ?

I am convinced the fact that the government secured Lisbon’s approval by both houses of the Czech Parliament matters much more at this stage. For the ratification to take effect, the signature of the President is necessary. It is the belief of the government that the President shall respect the will of the sovereign Parliament expressed by the constitutional majority and will, in due time, sign the Lisbon Treaty. Completing the ratification in the Czech Republic by the end of June would not influence the fortunes of the Lisbon Treaty because Europe still needs to wait for Ireland’s second referendum. Hence, what is important to complete and approve by the end of June are the legal the Irish legal guarantees paving the way to it. The Czech Presidency is doing its best to help facilitate it.

A lire également :
dans cette série d’interviews spéciales "élections européennes 2009", celle accordée par la ministre britannique des Affaires européennes, Caroline Flint.

Pour approfondir :
Fiche pays République tchèque