The new twelve

The new Member States resume their trip after the summer interruption (for the previous articles on the Member States refer to SIR Europe19-23-34-37-41-45/2008). Now is the turn of the Czech Republic, whose capital Prague is still today a symbol of the former Soviet Union’s repression. To analyze the changes under way and investigate on future expectations, SIrEurope, interviewed Ondrej Benešík, President of the European Affaires Commission for the Regional Council of Zlin, and member of the EU Regions Committee.Five years have gone by since the Czech Republic’s adhesion to the European Union: how would you best describe the impact on the economic and social reality of the Country?“According to me the economic effects have been very positive. We feared that an increase of competition with Europe might have a negative impact on our enterprises, however it turned out that most of them were prepared to address the new conditions and benefited from being part of the European Union. The European funding allocated to the Czech Republic have markedly helped overall development. On the other hand, also social life has benefited in some ways from being part of the European Union; for example always more Czech Republic citizens consider themselves as fully- fledged Europeans. Furthermore, the implementation of European rules has helped to free ourselves from the communist legacy”. In which sectors does the Czech Republic aim at improving its performance and which are your expectations for further domestic developments?“Transportation infrastructures are fundamental to our future development, especially the Czech Republic’s backward highway network. Equally important is education, strictly connected to the development of society knowledge and to foster research and innovation. In my opinion, these are the most important sectors that play a fundamental role in the country’s economic performance. Investments in education, research and innovation are vital for the Czech Republic, in order to improve its economic position, not only within the European Level but also globally”. Will your country’s presence in most of the international organizations permit Czech citizens to have their say and focus attention on their problems?“It is very difficult to answer this question. I suppose that our presence and representation in international organizations is more or less linked to our importance as a country. The issue is whether we are able to exploit this influence at its best. I am certain we can improve the use of our share of power, both at an International and European level”. Fact FileCreated on January 1, 1998 together with Slovakia after the peaceful break-up of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic joined Nato in 1999 and the European Union on May 2004. The almost 10 million five- thousand inhabitants have a yearly per capita income of 10,000 euros. The Country is composed of two large historical regions: Bohemia in the west and Moravia in the east, and part of Silesia. 94% of the country’s population is of Czech origin: the most relevant minorities are Slovak (2%), Rom (1.5%), Polish (0.5%) and German (0.4%). As far as religion is concerned, the Czech Republic together with Estonia has the lowest number of religious inhabitants: where the number of agnostics and atheists accounts for 60%, Roman Catholics 26.8% and Protestants 2.5%. According to the 2005 Euro-barometer survey only 19% of Czechs “believe in the existence of God” , 50% believe ” in the existence of a sort of spirit, God or vital power”. In Brussels the Czech Republic is represented by the Commissioner of employment and social affaires Vladimir Spidiia and by 24 European Members of Parliament (14 of the Popular Party, 6 of the European Left, 2 of the Socialist Party, 1 non-attached and 1 independent member)