The aim of the analysis was to evaluate the effects of membership in the European Union on the Czech economy and society. According to her, a significantly positive effect took place, for example, in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP). When the Czech Republic joined the Union, its GDP in purchasing power parity was 80 percent of the European average, last year it was already 91 percent. The standard of living of the Czechs thus approached Italy, we even overtook countries such as Portugal or Spain.
If we were not members of the EU, GDP per capita would have been a fifth lower last year. At the same time, household consumption would decrease by a third. Otherwise, it increased by 22 percent from 248 thousand crowns in 2004 to 302 thousand crowns in 2023.
The poverty rate also decreased by almost half – from 20 percent to around 11 percent. According to the analysis, the use of European funds contributed to this. Overall, the Czech Republic gained financially from membership in the EU, the net position at the end of last year reached 1.1 trillion crowns. We received exactly that much more money from the EU than we gave to the 27th.
But it’s not just about economic benefits. David Navrátil, Chief Economist of Česká spořitelna, pointed out that we must not forget aspects such as the Schengen area. Thanks to it, Czechs save an hour on average when traveling by car to Croatia, because they do not have to wait at the border. “How one forgets very quickly, so I found a period print and it didn’t take an hour at the time, it took hours,” pointed out Navrátil, that the time saved is probably even greater.
Also, free roaming is an essential thing that the European Union came up with. “Thanks to this regulation, for example, the volume of transferred mobile data increased rapidly during the summer months, when Europeans spend time on vacation abroad. Compared to the summer of 2016, the volume of transferred mobile data increased 44 times in the summer of 2023,” Navrátil said.
Gardener: The discussion on the euro is essential
The European Union, however, according to the analysis big challenges await in the coming years, and these are the green and digital transformation. Energy transformation, which is related to the green transformation, will cost an estimated 390 billion euros, digital transformation will cost another 120 billion euros. In addition, highly specialized people will be needed for this.
The challenge, which is purely Czech, is the euro. The Czech Republic currently has an ambivalent attitude towards it, the current government says adoption is not on the agenda. However, the debate was stirred up by President Petr Pavel, who stated in his New Year’s speech that he would the adoption of a common European currency should have started to be talked about.
For that in February Minister for European Affairs Martin Dvořák (STAN) appointed his adviser Petr Zahradník – a member of the National Economic Council of the Government (NERV), an expert on the European Union and an economist who participated in the presentation of the analysis mentioned in this text – plenipotentiary for the euro.
A storm broke out in the government coalition because of this, there was even the first ever conciliation procedure, during which the representatives of the coalition of five agreed to abolish the position of Euro Envoy. Blesk News asked Zahradník, who remained an adviser to Minister Dvořák, how the situation had developed since then.
Blesk Zprávy: What steps have been taken in relation to the euro since your appointment as Euro Commissioner almost brought down the coalition government?
Petr Zahradník: I think quite significant. Personally, my calendar was filled until at least the middle of the year. To participate in various discussions and debates throughout the country, which I think could be quite a good effect. Activities are being created in Minister Dvořák’s cabinet itself. Now at the beginning of May there will be a round table, a special informative website will be prepared. It’s not my merit, but somehow I participate in it. There is a special NERV commission on this topic.
The positive thing about this is that a document will probably be created that can have some telling, not only stating, but also perhaps analytical or attitude value. The negative thing is, I personally believe that it is a kind of alibi, because the deadline is after all the elections that will be held in the Czech Republic this year, and by that time there will be relatively little time before the elections to the House of Representatives.
So I feel that, first of all, given that there are both supporters and opponents in that group, who, in my opinion, will not be completely willing to compromise their positions, it cannot result in any clearly recommending position for the government, precisely for that political decision , which was mentioned here.
And secondly, after the discussion I already saw the comments of politicians like, maybe we’ll come back to it in the spring of next year, so I came to the conclusion for myself that it’s – I don’t want to say lost – but that it’s probably towards the goal , which some of us imagine, will not succeed.
In the next period, either the current coalition, which is not so much inclined to the adoption of the euro, or the ANO movement, which is not inclined at all, will rule again. Is there any chance that the political decision to accept will be made?
I would say that the attitude of the YES movement depends a lot on the attitude of the people. I am under no illusions that it can change drastically in any way. But we saw that some 12-13 years ago, the share of rejecters was about 50 percent, supporters 35 percent, and the rest were undecided. That’s a workable layout, I think. I agree that if 80 percent are against it, it is probably not possible to work with it significantly, at least in the short term. But if that were to happen, I think that at least some representatives of the ANO movement would become supporters again.
I mean, for example, Karel Havlíček, who, I don’t know how in party discussions, but in at least some objective discussions, argues relatively objectively and justifies why he does not like joining the eurozone at the moment, and I have the feeling that this is not entirely consistent just with that share of rejects.
So we come back to it, it’s mainly about public discussion and explanation.
This is a very important parameter. If the share was the opposite, I think we would have had the euro a long time ago. Why this is so, I think it lies really almost beyond any economic solution, that it is some kind of socio-psychological diagnosis, why we are so attached to our currency.
On the other hand, it is a certain manifestation of patriotism, which we are often accused of not having. So in this we fill it very densely. But if we are otherwise open, when a large part of the employees work in companies that are export-oriented, in many cases also owned by foreign owners, a lot of people travel, etc., we have parameters comparable to the vast majority of eurozone countries, so why is the mental attitude towards so different? So I’m not really sure about that.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) presented an amendment to the Labor Code, which includes the possibility to pay some workers in the Czech Republic in euros. Can it help change the attitude of the Czechs towards the euro?
I think this would really be the way to go. It would require some pre-explanation at the corporate level as to why this is so, perhaps this would objectify the discussion, that the managements or business owners would explain to their employees what their economic structure is after all, what markets they produce for, how their accounting, etc. I think this could be the way to go, but I wouldn’t introduce it directively in the first place, I would leave it up to the employee to choose which option he would prefer.
It will be on a voluntary basis.
So I think it is correct, at least for the first phase. And this can really be the way to reverse the ratio.
