Final Word from Thursday, July 25, 2024

Labor Min. Marian Jurečka of KDU-ČSL told Czech TV last night that the cabinet decided to nominate Industry Min. Jozef Síkela (STAN) as its sole candidate to the EU Commission, despite an appeal from Ursula von der Leyen for both a male and female candidate, because it didn't want someone else to make the final choice. EU Affairs Min. Martin Dvořák of STAN told CNN Prima News that the cabinet decided that it wouldn't nominate candidates of both sexes because the Commission in its view doesn't have the right to make such a request. As Jurečka sees it, the Czech representative should stand up for the voice of reason and the interests and will of the Czech Republic, and he mentioned what he called five logical areas for Síkela - Green Deal, energy, environment, internal market or transportation. Yet in several of these areas, the Fiala government has been more Brussels than Brussels, and Síkela has played a big role in this. If the coalition wants to start looking defiant in its approach to Brussels and to the Green Deal, nominating the "minister of deindustrialization" to be the torchbearer isn't really a very convincing move. [ Czech Republic president Commission Pres. defiance ]