AT for two decades, we can rely on a huge project that initially started somewhat idealistically, at least that’s how it sounded to us at the time – we will do business, let’s join forces, and therefore we will not pour in. None of us had experienced much of the historical process, we wanted to be the main insider, not somewhere outside on the periphery. We took it for granted. Today we see that actually even the historical course was not so far off, that the possibility and desire to kill neighbors still exists even in the 21st century.
I usually think of the European Union as something else. For Erasmus students, for entrepreneurs, a huge market without customs and fees, for others, travel without borders and cheap roaming. Only occasionally will voices be heard saying that it would be better not to be there. We shouldn’t have entered, it was a mistake, we must exit. Or it wasn’t a complete mistake, but the European Union has changed a lot in the meantime, we have to leave. And above all, don’t celebrate!
Arguments can be quickly dismissed by other people, including: the European Commission is not elected by anyone – as if we were to vote for the Czech government, in both cases we vote by means of representatives in the parliament. What did the people in Brussels come up with again – stupidly, we voted for it ourselves in the Council of the EU. As always, with specific decisions, there are those that some people like and others don’t like, depending on personal, political and other preferences. As with decisions made by the government, this or the previous, in parliament, in local politics. But at least we are inside and can influence something.
editor of Europe
We’re on it, don’t think! And who did von der Leyenov make friends with in Prague?
2/5/2024 ▪ 7 minutes the
But what if we weren’t? Where would we be? We remember well how the financial councils, courts, antimonopoly etc. worked back then. The entire accession process, including the adoption of the acquis communautaire, gave the company not only the necessary content, but also the form and, ultimately, the bureaucratic culture that has remained with us. The shift in the business environment and operating system was huge, regardless of the particulars, which according to us were good or bad. The idea that none of this would happen, if there were no European bureaucrats here, but we would only have our own, those who would look for their own paths by trial and error…, is frightening for those who remember what such paths once looked like. And also – those paths would definitely lead somewhere good for the entrance.
Those twenty years were worth it. It was a good decision. It is to celebrate you.
