Czech Business Today
The Czech Presidency and “Europe as a task”
On 1st July, the Czech Republic’s second Presidency began, taking over from France. The EU and its future direction are crucial for the current and future success of Czech industry and the economy. The priorities of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic and the Czech Chamber of Commerce are very much in line with each other. Both of them want to use the presidency mainly to make Czech entrepreneurs proposals, opinions, and concerns more visible.
The Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic has as one of its top 3 priorities what it considers to be the environmental conditions to ensure long-term competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. These priorities are a Resilient and Open Europe, a Competitive and Sustainable Europe, and a Europe with a Dynamic Labour Market. The aim of the Czech Chamber of Commerce is to draw Czech entrepreneurs and business people operating on Czech soil into the debate, to give them a voice, and to enable open dialogue between them, the Czech government, and representatives of European institutions. Above all, they want to enable Czech entrepreneurs to share their views and propose solutions to current problems in the EU, to enable them to be heard not only in Prague but also in Brussels, and to share their experiences and opinions with the European institutions and the other Member States. Last but not least, they want to promote dialogue on practical aspects of European politics in the Czech public space.
The main motto of the Czech Presidency is “Europe as a task”. This statement is not only connected to the essay of the same name by the first Czech President Václav Havel, but it is also a public declaration of his legacy. The Czech Republic has also chosen a logo that is composed of graphic elements symbolizing the 27 Member States of the European Union. Each element is based on the colors of the flag of a particular country and replaces the initials used in the logo from 2009.
