Czech Business Today

I am not afraid to speak of our Presidency as a success. We took it on at a very difficult time. Europe has barely recovered from the consequences of the covid pandemic, followed by Russian aggression against Ukraine and the ensuing energy war, says Minister of Industry and Trade Jozef Síkela. Europe handled the consequences of the Russian energy war better than we expected at the beginning. The Czech Republic and the Czech Presidency have played a major role in this respect.

We have managed to unite Europe to ensure a unified approach. In addition to the three planned Energy Council meetings, we convened five more extraordinary meetings, where our colleagues and we agreed, for example, on a coordinated reduction in gas and electricity consumption, simplification of permitting processes for the construction of renewable energy sources in the EU and joint EU gas purchases, which will help to push down the price of this commodity. As a result, Europe is as prepared as it could be for winter, despite Russian efforts to the contrary. At the same time, negotiations continued during the Presidency on the less acute but no less important energy legislation in the Fit for 55 package, which will have far-reaching implications for European industry.

As underlined by the EU’s RePowerEU strategy, diversification of suppliers is key to ensuring the EU’s energy security. The resource-rich countries of the Gulf and North Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Algeria, among others, are of interest in this respect. All three countries are opening up to foreign investors, and the Czech Republic is also establishing closer relations with them. The Czech Presidency has given new impulse to the conclusion of further free trade agreements, and after four years under our leadership, the Member States have managed to agree on the Council conclusions on trade and sustainability. We have also reached a consensus among Member States on an instrument against economic pressure. This will enable the EU to defend itself effectively in the future when third countries deliberately restrict trade for political reasons.

Furthermore, the Czech Presidency focused on the broader issue of European competitiveness. It reached an agreement on the so-called ‘chip act’ and, as the presiding country, we also highlighted the importance of the countries in the European neighbourhood as suppliers of certain strategic mineral resources. We are pleased that the European Commission has also taken up this topic and launched a public consultation for economic operators on this issue.

In the autumn, we began negotiating new rules for the functioning of the internal market during future crises. The uncoordinated closing of borders that we saw at the start of the covid pandemic cannot happen again. At the same time, we have long believed that the consistent removal of barriers to trade and business best serves the resilience of the internal market. In this regard, CZ PRES, together with the Commission, has made significant achievements within the Internal Market Enforcement Group SMET. The achievements of the internal market over the last 30 years and its future challenges were the subject of one of the most recent Presidency conferences, which took place on 8 December in Prague.

Jozef Síkela, Minister, MPO