- Czech Europe Minister Mikuláš Bek: ‘Gas emergency plan is not the final solution’
- SMEs and start-ups want to help shape EU communications network in space
- Oil price rises after supply disruption at Druzhba pipeline
- Turkey sends gas drill ship to eastern Mediterranean
- Covid aid: Poland threatens Brussels with consequences
- London rejects Scottish referendum
- Profile: Patrick Plötz – leaving the combustion engine past behind
The Czech council presidency was not at all sure that the agreement on the EU gas emergency plan would actually succeed in the Council, says Czech Europe Minister Mikuláš Bek in an interview with Europe.Table. But the plan is only the first step; further action must depend on Russia’s behavior regarding gas deliveries and, if necessary, adapt the emergency plan. Speaking with Hans-Peter Siebenhaar, Bek also talks about the state of the Visegrád Group, the role of nuclear power in Europe’s energy security, and the Czech Republic’s relationship with China.
Strategic sovereignty – that is a central goal of the Secure Connectivity Initiative launched by EU Commissioner for the Internal Market Thierry Breton earlier this year. The plan is to create a dedicated communications infrastructure from space, a communications network of hundreds, even thousands of satellites, covering Europe and parts of Africa. A mega-project in which young and innovative companies also want to participate. But there are doubts about how serious the Commission is about involving startups and SMEs in the initiative. The fear is that newcomers would not stand a chance. Corinna Visser asked around in the industry.
Patrick Plötz not only conducts research on electric cars and trucks – he recently started driving an electric car himself. He would like the EU Commission to take an ambitious approach to climate protection. Read more about the Coordinator of Business Unit Energy Economy at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research in today’s Profile by Janna Degener-Storr.
Sarah Schaefer
Feature
Czech Minister of European Affairs Bek: ‘Gas emergency plan is not the final solution’
Mikuláš Bek is a member of the liberal center-right movement “Mayors and Independents” (Starostové a nezávislí – STAN). The musicologist served as director of Masaryk University in Brno from 2011 to 2019. Bek speaks fluent German, and studied at Berlin’s Humboldt University as a doctoral student in 1990. Since 2018, the 58-year-old has been a member of the Czech Senate.
Mr. Bek, in the past, Czech EU presidencies were more duty than passion. How does the government in Prague feel about the current presidency?
There are many pro-Europeans in the Czech Republic. But they have not been in power for the past eight years. Our coalition, which has been in power since December, has its roots in the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Pirate Party, which is part of the Green Party in the European Parliament. This change in the Czech Republic has been positively received in Europe. The feared divide between Western and Eastern Europe is not happening. The Czech and Slovak governments are an assurance that this will not be the case. Poland has also shown itself to be more moderate on European policy in recent months. There is hope that there will be no polarization like in Hungary’s case.
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