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The outspoken Czech leader has warned of a ‘democratic deficit’
August 1968, Bratislava, Czechoslovakia --- A young man waves Slovak and
Czechoslovakian flags, as he watches Soviet tanks move slowly along a
Bratislava street When Soviet tanks rolled into Czech streets
Bojan Pancevski THE leader of the Czech Republic, which holds the rotating European
Union presidency, has warned that a “Europe of states” is in danger of
turning into a “state of Europe”, legislating on almost every aspect of
people’s lives but lacking in democracy and transparency.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, President Vaclav Klaus drew
parallels between Brussels and the failed communist dictatorships of
eastern Europe. “My criticism is based on the sensitivity towards attempts to restrain
freedom and democracy, and it does relate to the fact that for most of
my life I lived in a political, social and economic system which was not
free and was not democratic,” he said. Klaus also predicted that Gordon Brown’s attempts to produce a European
solution to the global economic crisis in time for next month’s G20
summit in London could make the problems worse. Klaus, 67, an economist by training and a successful finance minister
after the fall of communism, said he believed Brown’s plans for more
regulatory supervision of the financial system would resolve nothing.
Instead, Europe should let business and markets go free. “The crisis cannot be solved by restraining human initiative and putting
further burdens on businesses,” he said. “I propose the exact opposite:
deregulation, liberalisation, removing barriers and unnecessary
obstructive legislation at the European level.” A longstanding Eurosceptic and admirer of Margaret Thatcher, Klaus
remains scornful of attempts to impose the Lisbon treaty on an unwilling
electorate. He said the treaty contained measures to give unelected
officials in Brussels “even more power”. Irish voters who threw out the treaty in a referendum last year “knew
what they were doing”, Klaus added, and he was not certain that the
second vote which has been called will have a different outcome: “But
the pressure will be enormous and not very democratic.” He talked of a “democratic deficit” in the EU when he addressed the
European parliament last month. In his interview, conducted by e-mail,
he explained: “I see the democratic deficit in a growing distance
between the citizens of the EU member states and the EU political elite,
as well as in the shift of decision making from the member states’
capitals to Brussels.” About 75% of legislation was made in the EU by unelected officials, he
said. The Lisbon treaty would give the EU its own legal personality and
would abolish important rights of veto: “This certainly is not a
solution to the democratic deficit. It makes the democratic deficit even
greater.” Klaus refused to say whether he would agree to sign the treaty, which
has yet to be passed by the Czech Senate, if and when it arrives on his
desk. “I don’t wish to foresee . . . what happens after that; let’s wait for
the Senate’s decision,” he said. The Czech government’s presidency has
smashed any hopes of a cosy EU consensus. Klaus was booed by many MEPs
after his speech and a humorous sculpture installed in Brussels
portrayed Bulgaria as a lavatory, Romania as a Dracula theme park and
France as a country permanently on strike. They were not amused. Klaus, who helped to lead his country from communism to freedom, warned
that the new constitution would stifle debate and democracy. “Not so
long ago, in our part of Europe we lived in a political system that
permitted no alternatives and therefore also no parliamentary
opposition,” he said. “It was through this experience that we learnt the bitter lesson that
with no opposition and tolerance to differing points of view, there is
no freedom.” Klaus revels in speaking his mind on controversial subjects, always
prepared to confront politically correct orthodoxies. He is a leading
critic of the green movement and also of measures to fight global
warming. Freedom and prosperity, he said, were much more endangered than
the climate. He firmly refuses to fly the blue and gold European flag over his
official residence in Prague, pointing out that “the European Union is
not a state and legally it does not have a flag”. In a pointed reference to his country’s Soviet-dominated past, he said:
“We have lived through the times when it was compulsory on some days to
fly another state flag next to ours. I am very glad that these times are
over.” Tight grip The Lisbon treaty: - Creates EU president post with 30-month term - Allows new “foreign minister” to take charge of common EU foreign policy - Increases power of European Court of Justice - Gives more authority to unelected Brussels bureaucrats - Limits veto powers of member states
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