„I would call it a crisis if the European Union continues to bully Ireland for how they decided, but if the European elites, the bureaucracy, the remaining nations will accept this result, it’s no crisis.“ Does that mean you believe the Czech Republic should not continue with the ratification process? „I think it would be absurd....
Worse than expected On May 13, 2004, the Finance Ministry had yet expected a net profit of €413 billion, with contributions of €560 million and revenues €973 million[2]. „The worse-than-expected results are due the delays in the Commission’s approvals of applications for subsidies,“ the Ministry argues today. Another reason was a methodology change in calculation of GDP,...
Despite their weakening grip on power, 2004 has been the sixth consecutive year of Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) rule. It was also the year during which the Czech Republic acceded to the European Union, and saw an unprecedented growth in its public debt. Commensurate with the current government’s political vision, 2004 saw an increase...
Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a great honour for me to speak at this conference. I must admit that I am not used to speaking in Brussels; actually, believe it or not, I have never been to Brussels before. As I lack the experience from the Brussels seminars, I am going to put as clearly as I can what I really think of...
A young Czech economist has uncovered a fact overlooked by many in the debate about the single European currency. Petr Mach shows that Germany will lose € 41.5 billion and France will gain € 35 billion as a result of the pooling of central bank assets on 1 January 2002. The German exchequer will lose out on interest receipts whereas the French will...
The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities; that is, in proportion to the revenue which they respectively enjoy under the protection of the state. … Every tax ought to be so contrived as both to take out and...
The war in Iraq revealed the weaknesses of the UN, which in the eyes of many is – or should be – the source of legitimacy of international military actions. These weaknesses, however, are of such a fundamental nature that we must ask whether the organisation’s further existence in its current form has any sense, or...
When in 1989 we called „Back to Europe!,“ we meant to free ourselves from the bounds of the Asian culture represented by the former Russian ruler over our sovereignty and to rejoin the democratic and capitalist Western Europe. Few years later, with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union was established. We took...
Not surprisingly, the opinions of Euro-optimist Monika Pajerová and Euro-skeptic Petr Mach about Czech accession to the EU are a study in contrasts. Their dual interview with The Prague Tribune simmered with arguments and invective. Mrs. Pajerová, what are your three basic reasons why the Czech Republic should join the EU? Monika Pajerová, coordinator of the...
Ing. Petr Mach, PhD