The 2009 Czech EU Presidency: contested leadership at a time of crisis

Abstract:

The Czech Presidency of 2009 inherited a fully charged agenda after France.

Three severe external crises confronted the Czech government as it took over at the helm of the EU: the gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia; renewed hostilities in the Gaza Strip; and the deepest global economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Despite a quite successful handling of these crises, in particular as concerns the issue of security energy supply, the Czech Presidency risks instead being remembered for the domestic wrangling over the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty and political dispute among coalition partners and in parliament over Czech EU-policy. Domestic political rows resulted in the unseating of the government and threw the Czech Presidency into disarray.