Prague, March 29 (CTK) – The Czech Republic will have to seriously deal with the idea of what the European Union should look like in future, due to the planned departure of Britain from the bloc, analyst Jana Reschova, from the Law Faculty of Prague’s Charles University, told CTK.
“It seems that the era of mild Euroscepticism has ended for the Czech Republic. Both those who supported the EU membership and the hardline Eurosceptics will have to present an idea of what the EU should look like,” she said.
Reschova said the negotiations about the future relations between the United Kingdom and the EU will be hard for whole
Europe.
Czexit is not a likely option, she said.
Analyst Krystof Krulis, from the Prague-based Association for International Affairs, said he expects the free movement of European citizens in Britain to be one of the key points of the Brexit negotiations.
It may happen that the British authorities will consider EU citizens third country nationals, however, a milder regime is likely to be agreed on.
But Krulis said the United Kingdom will have more space to limit the influx of workforce from Europe if needed.
If the Brexit talks failed, it would seriously affect both sides, he said, adding that customs on imported products might go up and Britain might not pay its contribution to the EU budget within the seven-year framework.
Reschova said the EU-UK talks would be very intensive, yet the two years from the formal opening of the process yesterday may not be sufficient.
The talks will be demanding for the member countries and their representatives, she said.
The Czech members of the European Parliament should jointly represent the mainstream political priorities of their country, not their individual parties, she added.
Reschova said the Czech Republic signed the Rome Declaration of 27 member states last weekend that expresses the determination to keep developing Europe together.
“As the Czech Republic joined this pledge, it will also have to support trends that unite the European Union,” she said, adding that the integration initiatives include economy and armed forces.
