Prague, 30/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - Although allies within the governmental coalition in power in Prague, Prime Minister Milos Zeman (CSSD, Left) and the President of the House of Representatives, former Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus (ODS, Right), expressed views on Tuesday that show their opinions differ considerably over the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union.
It was on Tuesday evening that the head of the Czech Government and the president of the Parliament expressed how they felt about the stakes involved in Europe, although the electoral campaign for the forthcoming general elections, scheduled for June 2002, has not yet officially begun. During a speech delivered in Prague, Mr Zeman disclosed an ambitious plan aimed at meeting the main accession requirements of the EU by next June and closing negotiations on six key chapters by the end of this year. Nineteen of the thirty chapters have so far been closed. "We want to be ready to enter the Union by next June", said the government leader. Mr Klaus, who was speaking at the Alpbach Forum (Austria), displayed his euro-scepticism and criticised enlargement to the East of this rigid, unwieldy and costly Union. He also issued a warning against the possibility of problems linked to the strict requirements of the accession process.
Such divergence crops up at a time when the Czech Parliament is beginning examination of the draft budget for 2002 and of reforms required for accession. Mr Zeman will obviously need the support of Mr Klaus' troops to have reforms passed in parliament.
Answering questions on Wednesday on such dissension, the Commission's spokesman in Prague, Mr Dusan Ondrejicka, refused to comment, it is reported by the German press agency, DPA. Mr Ondrejicka nonetheless stressed that none of the accession conditions would be fulfilled until the Czech Republic has closed all negotiations and ratified an accession treaty. The Union is still waiting for the Czech Republic to make an effort on complex issues such as agriculture, public finance and energy. On this last point, some Austrian leaders have threatened to block Prague's entry into the EU, mainly because of the building of a nuclear power plant in Temelin (South Bohemia), a project that is opposed by ecologists and other Austrian nuclear opponents - but the European partners in Vienna are firmly opposed to this eventuality. The Czech Republic, on its side, recently called on the EU to approve the periods of transition allowing it to maintain the low taxation rates on heating (until 2007) and cigarettes (until 2008). The EU has already granted it transition periods in areas such as recycling and the treatment of waste water.