Czechs' scepticism towards the EU has never been close to us considering leaving

After 20 years, we are more critical of the European Union than other countries. However, according to Petr Kaniok, a political scientist at the National Institute SYRI from the Faculty of Social Studies at Masaryk University, scepticism in the Czech Republic has never really approached the level where we would consider leaving the EU. Membership in the Union has cultivated us in many ways. For example, we treat minorities differently and we think differently about the rights of disadvantaged citizens.

Czech society's attitudes towards the European Union are evolving and going through certain changes. The way politicians talk about the EU has a big influence on the perception of the EU27. "We could see this, for example, during the eurozone crisis, when confidence plummeted a lot. It was similar during the migration crisis, where mainly Czech politicians scored points and often spoke about the EU in a very misleading way," Kaniok believes.

For most voters, EU membership has had economic benefits resulting in an overall rise in living standards over the past two decades. The Czech economy benefits from the common market and from European integration. "Given our location and the profile of our economy, we cannot be a closed autarkic society that can make do with itself. But more subtle benefits are also important. Thanks to the EU, we treat minorities differently, we think differently about the rights of disadvantaged citizens. Society has certainly, although it may not look like it, become more sophisticated during the EU membership period," says Kaniok.

Czechs are generally more critical of the EU than other countries. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Kaniok, and scepticism in the Czech Republic has never really come close to us considering leaving the EU. "For a long time, the Czech public had no one to cultivate it. The Euro-optimist parties have not been able to create a comprehensible narrative of European integration and Czech membership for 20 years. Czech Euro-optimism is in fact a repetition of platitudes or empty platitudes, albeit of the most noble kind. This is often forgotten, and only Eurosceptics are blamed for Czech reticence," Kaniok said.

Credit for the Czech Republic amongst other EU countries is gradually improving. Our recent presidency has contributed a lot to this. "If the current government can be praised for anything, it is certainly the improvement of the Czech Republic's image among its European partners. The previous cabinet isolated the Czech Republic quite a lot. Reputation is very important in the EU, a country's reputation determines its ability to build coalitions and is one of the main sources of a member state's strength," Kaniok said.

However, the European Parliament elections themselves are rather secondary for the Czech political scene, although this year that will probably change. "There are more comprehensible European topics that are polarizing enough (the Green Deal and its consequences, migration, the EU's role in the war in Ukraine), plus it can be expected that the opposition will deploy all its forces and resources to sell this year's elections as a referendum on the government. So, the mobilisation efforts will be great, and I think this will be reflected in a higher turnout, more media interest and a more attractive campaign," Kaniok adds.

Photo: Pexels.com