Petr Kaniok

Brexit outside of UK politics: the case of Czech Eurosceptics

ABSTRACT How do soft and hard Eurosceptics differ from each other? This question has become more salient in recent years, as party-based Euroscepticism has been affecting daily mainstream European politics. This article explores this question through an examination of the impact of Brexit outside the United Kingdom. Using the Czech Republic, a country with a strong tradition of party-based Euroscepticism, we analyze representatives of both categories in the context of pro-EU parties. Using official party reactions to Brexit, we argue that the reactions of both camps substantially vary. While soft Eurosceptics consider Brexit to be an opportunity to reform the EU, hard Eurosceptics see Brexit as a call to destroy the EU. Moreover, the position of soft Eurosceptics is closer to the stance of pro-EU parties than to that of hard Eurosceptics. Our research thus contributes to a greater understanding of party-based Euroscepticism and to forming a clearer conceptualization of it.

Party based Euroscepticism and EU domestic coordination: longitudinal analysis of central and eastern countries

ABSTRACT This article is concerned with the positions of political actors on European Union (EU) issues and examines how these positions impact the coordination of the European agenda. Theoretically, the analysis is based on a model in which political actors maximise their preferences, as developed in rational-choice institutionalism. The authors use two dependent variables: “form of coordination”, which denotes the centralisation or decentralisation of systems; and “centre of coordination”, which indicates the location within government of the main coordinating body. They seek to explain: 1) party Euroscepticism and the degree of salience governments assign to their European agenda; and 2) other factors including party system fragmentation and political system decentralisation. The findings confirm the premise that party Euroscepticism and the salience of EU issues lead to the centralisation of coordination mechanisms. By contrast, the study refutes the hypothesis that the European agenda is externalised to the ministry of foreign affairs if the cabinet is a Eurosceptic one.

Roll Call Votes in the European Parliament: a good sample or a poisoned dead end?

SUMMARY The Roll Call Vote (RCV) of Members of the European Parliament is a standard data source for modern research into the European Parliament (EP). RCV samples are used in particular to study political group cohesion and the emergence of conflict lines within the EP. Current mainstream research thus treats RCVs as a reliable source of data. But other research exists that questions the suitability of the RCV as a sample that fairly represents the population of EP votes. Specifically, this latter research stream points to the over-representation of non-legislative items over legislative items and to the under-representation (or even complete absence) of some committees. However, these critically oriented studies focus on data that does not take into account changes that have occurred in recent years, after the Treaties of Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007) came into force in 2003 (Nice) and 2009 (Lisbon). By analysing all votes that took place in 2013, the authors find that the RCV has become a more reliable data source in recent years. The most important difference – that which obtained between legislative and non-legislative issues – has completely vanished and the remaining differences show only a very weak effect. The authors attribute this change to the empowerment of the EP in the legislative arena and the amendment of the Rules of Procedure.

Free Citizens’ Party – from Brussels to Prague?

ABSTRACT Although the objectives of hard Eurosceptic parties are focused on the European Union (EU), a presence in the European Parliament (EP) is not their final goal. In order to fulfil their main objective – disbanding of the EU – they need to be relevant at the national level as well. Thus, being represented at the EU level can be used by them as a springboard to the domestic scene. This article analyses how such a process may occur. As its main finding, it claims that success in the EP elections can be Pyrrhic victory for hard Eurosceptics, since it reinforces their niche status.

Small Countries in the EU: The Czech Republic Case

Abstract This study analyses the behaviour of the Czech Republic as a small European Union (EU) member country. For the analysis the model of Baldur Thorhallsson was used, which for small EU countries assumes the presence of several characteristics - their good relationship with the European Commission (EC), prioritization of objectives and the flexibility of administration. The presence of these elements in Czech behaviour is analysed using data obtained from 10 interviews with Czech diplomats acting both in the Permanent Representation at the EU (PermRep) and at the capital or the European Commission. In conclusion, the study finds that although the Czech Republic fulfils the conditions for the behaviour of a small country, it cannot adequately balance the limits that arise from the given data. As an explanation for this discrepancy, we offer the low level of socialization of the Czech Republic in the EU and reluctance to accept the role of a small member state.

I Do It My Way: Analysis of the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union

Abstract This article analyses development of the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the European Union (PermRep) from 2004, when the Czech Republic joined the European Union, until 2013. Its main aim is to test four concepts related to the three neoinstitutionalist theories – firstly, the path dependency and critical junctures models related to the historical neo-institutionalism, secondly principal-agent relation typical for the rational neo-institutionalism and the concept of the logic of appropriateness related to the sociological institutionalism. The authors try to determine which of these four models have the best explanatory potential when it comes to the development of the Czech PermRep. After analysing three independent variables (changes in executive, EU Council Presidency, EU strategies), and their impact on the dependent variable (character of the Czech PermRep), the authors conclude that particularly historical institutionalism and sociological institutionalism models have the greatest explanatory power while the contribution of rational institutionalism model of principal-agent is relatively weak.

Strana svobodných občanů – čeští monotematičtí euroskeptici?

When, in the beginning of 2009, the Party of Free Citizens was founded, it was believed that the main impulse for establishing a new political party was the generally positive approach towards the Lisbon Treaty adopted by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) a couple of months before. Thus, since its foundation, the media, commentators and political analysts have labelled the Party of Free Citizens as a single issue Eurosceptic party. This article challenges this prevailing evaluation of the Party of Free Citizens and subsequently confronts the party´s programs and press releases with three concepts – the concept of Euroscepticism connected with the work of Taggart and Szczerbiak, the concept of a single issue party developed by Mudde, and the concept of a niche party brought into political science by Meguide. The article concludes that while the Party of Free Citizens is undoubtedly a Eurosceptic party, both in terms of its soft and hard versions, its overall performance as a political entity does not meet the criteria of Mudde´s concept of a single issue party. As the Party of Free Citizens puts a strong emphasis on European issues (compared to other mainstream Czech political parties), it can, at most, be described as a niche party.

Jak zkoumat koalice v Radě EU? Analýza výzkumných přístupů ke koaličnímu chování v Radě EU

Both in the Czech and European contexts, the Council of the EU is a relatively frequent subject of interest in political science research . A substantial amount of work (both in the t radition of qualitative and quantitative research) focuses especially on the process of coalition building and the impact and functioning of the different levels of the Council. This theoretical discussion analyzes the possibilities which both the qualitative and quantitative approaches offer concerning research dealing with the coalition behavior of one concrete EU member state. In doing so, it takes into account various specifics which characterize the Council of the EU and which substantially influence the behavior of its member states. The paper concludes that the qualitative approach (while being to a substantial degree complementary to the quantitative tradition) offers better tools for an analysis focusing on the coalition behavior of one member state than its quantitative counterpart. One of the reasons lies in the nature of our research which deals with the process of promoting the interests of the Czech Republic in the EU Council, with a special emphasis on coalition building and searching for compromises.