Czech Business Today

The Czech presidency had its motto Europe as a task in tribute to the title of a speech made by Václav Havel in 1996 in Aachen calling for more responsibility for global ecological, social and economic challenges. From the very beginning of their presidency, Czechs showed that in extraordinary times, solutions can be found at EU level pretty quickly. In energy field, they broke the record many times. They managed to conclude the agreement on the rules of solidarity, gas price cap, energy savings, joint gas purchases, as well as on speeding up the permitting procedures for renewables and many other dossiers from Fit for 55 package.

The presidential team also managed to negotiate a number of proposals in the area of the digital agenda and the internal market with an emphasis on the best possible conditions for entrepreneurs. However, there are areas such as sustainable corporate governance and due diligence where the Czech Chamber of Commerce would welcome much longer discussion, as the proposal means an additional administrative burden for entrepreneurs. It is precisely in this respect that the Chamber would expect a realistic view from the Swedish presidency, so that it truly reflects two of its four priorities, namely resilience, i.e. competition, and prosperity during green & energy transition. The Chamber relies on Swedes that these two priorities will be adhered to when negotiating partial proposals of the Green Deal and that the presidency does not forget that the “health” situation of companies is reflected in the “health” of their employees. Within the framework of the security priority of the Swedish presidency, there is no doubt that the Czech presidency is valued. It stood up to help Ukraine, and thanks to this, the Czech Republic belongs to the countries that help the war-torn country the most financially, humanitarianly and materially, and in this it also inspires its European partners. The work of the Czech government was also highlighted by foreign media, including the Financial Times, which paid an unprecedented tribute to the Czech presidency and praised its work during such turbulent times.

In view of the 30^th anniversary of the internal market, the Czech Chamber of Commerce expects the Swedish presidency to devote its time to obstacles and competitiveness in the single market. With regard to the crisis, this topic was somewhat neglected, while a single market is the engine of the economic integration of the EU and deserves more attention.

During the presidency, the Czech Chamber of Commerce organized 11 events in the Czech Republic and Brussels under the auspices of CZ PRES, and provided a discussion platform for approximately 600 guests and 80 interesting speakers. The representatives of the Chamber were invited to a discussion with representatives of the Council during CZ PRES and had the opportunity to allay the concerns of Czech businesses via Mr Dlouhý, the President of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, directly to European ministers. The Czech Chamber of Commerce firmly believes that this tradition will continue and that the priority on competitiveness will not remain on paper but becomes truly visible in EU policy-making.

Alena MASTANTUONO, HK ČR