Final Word from Wednesday, October 9, 2024

PM Petr Fiala said yesterday in welcoming Lukáš Vlček as industry minister and bidding farewell to the outgoing minister, Jozef Síkela, that part of Vlček's job will be to try to get Europe to be more rational in its decision-making. There's a new atmosphere in Europe and in the EU Commission, Fiala said, and it gives us an opportunity to make corrections to the Green Deal that are needed for European competitiveness. Standing next to him was Síkela, who, like all the other new designated EU commissioners, received a mission letter from Ursula von der Leyen telling him that the Commission's success will be "measured against our ability to meet the targets and objectives we set, notably as part of the European Green Deal." Síkela has already said that the Green Deal targets can't be expected to change. The logical question is why the Fiala government is sending someone to Brussels who, from day one, has a defeatist attitude about the stated policy of the Czech government to revise the Green Deal. [ Czech Republic STAN European Union ]