Some wins, but Czech EU presidency seen as chaotic failure (Feature)

Prague - Visibly exhausted, Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer nevertheless displayed some exhilaration on the night he returned to Prague from the European Union's latest summit. 'We succeeded in fulfilling what we had resolved to do ... to complete the Czech presidency with honour,' he told reporters at a post-summit bash in one of the capital's stately palaces. That is not how the Czech EU presidency - which followed the more dynamic French in 2008 - is seen in all other European capitals, however. The Czech presidency, which ends Tuesday, managed to work out a deal on legally-binding guarantees for Ireland meant to persuade its voters to back EU's stalled reform Lisbon Treaty in a new vote. The Czech-led summit also approved principles for regulation of bloc's financial markets and agreed that Jose Manuel Barroso should remain the European Commission's president. But Fischer's successes did not spare the Czechs scathing reviews of their chaotic half-year stint at EU's helm in newspapers across Europe. And journalists and bureaucrats in Brussels now look to Sweden, which takes over the role until the end of the year, to offer a return to some serenity and predictability. Judging from the headlines in much of the European press, the Czech EU presidency has been a disaster that ended on March 24 when then Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's government tumbled. Aside from the cabinet's fall the highlights, or rather lowlights, included: the embarrassing Entropa sculpture of national stereotypes that gave Europe a hard lesson on Czech humour, Topolanek's explosive 'road to hell' statements on the US economic collapse and the publication of the ex-premier's nude photo snapped at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's villa. Who is to blame for the dreadful PR disaster? Former Czech vice- premier for European affairs Alexandr Vondra quipped before reporters in May that French President Nicolas Sarkozy's 'imperial style of presidency did not make our team presidency easier'. Still, only Czech politicians are ultimately responsible for their gaffe-prone presidency. 'Czech diplomats did not do a bad job but politics let them down,' said Hugo Brady, a research fellow with the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think tank. Brady, who worked for the Irish EU presidency in 2004, said he does not see the Czech term as a complete failure. For example, Topolanek warded off Sarkozy's push for protectionist economic policy and his caretaker successor Fischer returned to Prague with the Irish guarantees. But the image counts and Prague was set for a PR nightmare, as the Czechs are one of the more eurosceptic EU members. They then displayed what Brady called 'pride at not caring' - which has irritated not only the press. In a campaign preceding the EU term, Topolanek's government vowed to 'make it sweet for Europe' - an ambiguous idiom which can also mean giving someone a hard time. As soon as the cabinet fell, Czech newspapers began bashing their own government's presidency. And while Topolanek tamed his antipathy to the EU while in its chair, he returned to bashing the Lisbon Treaty soon after he was ousted from office. Of course, it did not help that President Vaclav Klaus, whose role in the EU presidency was kept marginal until Topolanek's demise, is an avowed EU critic. 'If you don't like a job you are not going to be very good at it,' Brady said. 'If you don't like the EU you are likely not going to have a good presidency.' But, with apathy to the EU demonstrated by low turnouts in this month's parliamentary elections, some kinder commentators have joked that at least the Czech presidency was not boring.