Czech premier rejects social protocol

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mirek Topolanek, has warned that plans to add a social dimension to the EU constitution to make it more palatable to French voters will run into difficulty.

Topolanek, leader of a centre-right government with liberal instincts, said that a social protocol should "absolutely not" be added to a revised text of the EU constitution.

On the eve of the EU’s spring summit, which has EU competitiveness at the top of its agenda, Topolanek said that member states had to dismantle their welfare systems in order to avoid lagging behind the emerging Asian economies.

His position is likely to ­irritate government leaders, including those from France and Germany, who believe that the solution to the crisis sparked by the rejection of the EU constitution by French and Dutch citizens is to strengthen the social dimension of the EU.

Social affairs ministers from nine member states recently called for a more social Europe, while ­German Chancellor and EU president-in-office Angela Merkel said a social protocol should be attached to any new text of the constitution.

Topolanek said that when he was in the EU’s driving seat, scheduled for the first half of 2009, he would push for further liberalisation. The key message of the Czech Republic’s first EU presidency would be ­‘Europe without barriers’, with free movement of people, services and free trade at the top of its agenda.

"By barriers we understand various forms of ­discrimination, or ways to ­dis­qualify some of the new member states in comparison to the old, or psychological barriers that exist among countries: they should also be torn down. We can also view as ­barriers the current frontiers of the EU," he said.

Topolanek said ending restrictions on workers from new member states taking jobs in some of the 15 older members, which come up for review in 2009, were among the ­barriers to be torn down, as well as giving more freedom for companies to provide services across the EU.

A watered-down services directive, adopted last year, is expected to enter into force in 2009. These restric­tions "don’t have any real reason", he said, adding that "no barriers" also meant that the EU should expand further. "No borders should be erected if those countries comply with the required conditions," he said.

Topolanek said the term "absorption capacity", used by countries, such as France, to justify why the brakes should be put on the Union’s expansion, was "most of the time just a way to hide the fact that those countries failed to convince their citizens of the success of enlargement".

He urged EU leaders to stop wasting their energy on institutional ­reforms and ­focus instead on making the EU fit for the 21st century. "While the EU is busy with reforms of the institutional framework, in the east there are a number of countries which are very fierce competitors, which produce cheaper products with the same quality," he said.

He also said it would be a mistake to use the Berlin Declaration, which will be adopted by EU leaders on 25 March to mark the Union’s 50th birthday, as a first step towards the ­rescue of the constitution.

"They are not related. The Berlin Declaration is a commemorative document, a celebration document, it is a different literary genre. It should not…have political ambitions."

The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Mirek Topolanek, has warned that plans to add a social dimension to the EU constitution to make it more palatable to French voters will run into difficulty.