Transcript of a press conference given by the Prime Minister and the Czech Prime Minister, Mr Mirek Topolanek in London.
Prime Minister:
I want to welcome Prime Minister Topolanek to Downing Street today. We have had a good discussion on the challenges that our countries face, and the challenges that the international community, and particularly the European Union faces in the coming months. I took the opportunity to welcome the incoming Czech Presidency of the European Union. I believe it is a proud moment for the Czech Republic as it prepares to hold the European Presidency for the first time, and I have no doubt about the success of the Presidency under the Prime Minister’s charge.
The UK and the Czech Republic have developed a very strong relationship and a partnership in the EU, and of course in NATO. We strongly endorse the priorities that the Prime Minister has identified for his Presidency – the economy, energy, climate change and external relations, particularly to the east. I have assured President Topolanek that he can count on our full support as his government addresses these global issues that affect the European Union.
Economic slowdown is a global problem that requires global action. The current difficulties are affecting all our economies. In Europe we are delighted in our belief that governments have a duty to act, and our ambitious economic recovery plan, agreed last week at the European Council, showed that Europe is leading the world in our response to the global economic crisis.
It is important that we continue to make progress on the recovery plan. It is vital at this time of economic difficulty that we carry forward the positive agreement we reached in Brussels.
We also agreed today to work closely on the preparations for the G20 meeting that will take place in London on 2 April. Following on from the successful outcome of the European Council I very much also welcome the priority of the Presidency on energy security and I look forward to working with Prime Minister Topolanek on this.
We discussed the recent Working Time Directive vote in the European Parliament. Freedom of choice over working hours has operated successfully in the UK and a number of member states for many years and I continue to support the opt-out which gives that choice to UK workers. I believe it is wrong to take away from workers the chance to work longer and earn more if they wish, and ending the opt-out is bad for business. So we together will continue to defend that position.
Prime Minister, once again welcome and our best wishes for a successful European Presidency. We know it is in good hands.
Prime Minister Topolanek:
Thank you very much. I think that Prime Minister Brown has already said what I had originally wanted to mention as well. I am actually by my visit to the UK and by visiting Prime Minister Brown I am concluding my tours de capital prior to our Presidency. It is a great opportunity as well as responsibility for a country, like the Czech Republic, which joined the European Union only five years ago, and only twenty years ago gained its freedom.
Obviously we are assuming the Presidency in very difficult times because we are going to be the ones to implement, or to help implement, the conclusions from the December European Council meeting and we will have to deal with the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Obviously we also talked about the preparations and the organisation of the G20 Summit which is going to take place in London, and the Czech Republic should obviously represent the 27 countries there.
The fact that we were able to agree at the last European Council on the plan of recovery shows that the EU would like to proceed in a coordinated manner when resolving and tackling problems related to the crisis and the economic situation.
However, at the same time we still insist on trying to achieve the objectives, such as increasing the competitiveness of the European Union and European businesses, as well as implementing the Lisbon strategy and we actually believe that these objectives go hand in hand with the recently adopted recovery plan.
So usually I spoke in a rather humourless way, but that is occasions regarding or on the issue of better regulation. However better regulation is something that we very much welcome and we welcome it much more than over-regulation or any new regulations being introduced.
Also we will be charged with the preparation of the Copenhagen Summit. I think this is going to be a very important summit because this is an opportunity to show that the European Union is a true leader and champion of the process on climate change, and we will of course also try to get the board and convince the other very important players like the United States of America, Russia, India and China to cooperate with us in this very context.
We also spoke with Prime Minister Brown about the energy security, which is one of our key priorities, the priorities of the Czech Presidency. We also talked about the south corridor and other alternative suppliers of oil and gas, and obviously on foreign affairs and foreign relations issues.
As far as foreign policy is concerned we very much share the same opinion so there are no issues on which we would hold different opinions. Both countries are strong advocates of increasing and strengthening the transatlantic link, both countries are in favour of further enlargement of the EU towards the western Balkans and we are of course ready to do the maximum, or to generate the maximum effort for it. And like the other countries, both countries support Turkey’s membership of the EU.
And I am very glad that Prime Minister Brown accepted my invitation to yet another summit, which is actually a very important one in the context of yet another priority of the Czech Presidency, and that actually relates to the eastern partnership initiative.
Countries which this eastern partnership relates to entails like Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and not only important countries as far as the Eastern Partnership Cooperation is concerned, but they also play a very important role as far as the other issue I have already mentioned is concerned, which is energy security.
And obviously on top of this we will have to deal with a number of problems and tackle many problems which sometimes are even sort of more important to the UK, and the Czech Republic are ready to tackle them. Both countries, they are active in their mission, or their missions, or they have troops in Afghanistan and we believe that Pakistan actually plays a key role in this process and in the success of those missions. And also in the context of recent events we are ready to organise a summit between the EU and Pakistan in cooperation with the UK.
And I am always very glad to see that we have this very good excellent cooperation between the Czech Republic and the UK because although these two countries are separated geographically, we are very, very close as far as our policies and our approach to methods of common interest are concerned.
Thank you very much Prime Minister Brown and thank you very much for your discussion and for your hospitality.
Question:
Prime Minister I wonder if I can ask you whether you accept the view of the Archbishop of Canterbury who believes that the credit crunch is a reality check for a society that has become driven by unsustainable greed, and that your recipe for spending your way out of the recession is like an addict returning to the drug? And I wonder whether I could just ask Mr Toplanek whether he accepts that the British model of fiscal stimulus is the right one for the whole of the rest of Europe?
Prime Minister:
Well my father was a church Minister so I always listen very carefully to what the Archbishop of Canterbury and other members of the clergy say. I support what he says about a strong civic society, the need for responsibility and the need to act against irresponsible behaviour when it appears in the banking and financial system, as it has in recent times. But I think the Archbishop would also agree with me that every time someone becomes unemployed, or loses their home, or a small business has failed, it is our duty to act and we should not walk by on the other side when people are facing problems. That is the reason why our fiscal policy is designed to give real help to families and business, and to give them that help now.
Prime Minister Topolanek:
As far as the question is concerned, I am very glad that the recovery package which has been approved or adopted by the recent European Council meeting actually allows each country to adopt such fiscal measures and actually such an approach which is the best one for their respective economy and the situation of their economy. It should be realised that the UK, which is one of the largest economies, also it is actually the financial hub, and for that reason it has been stricken by the financial crisis, much more than any other country in Europe has. And this immediate reaction actually assured, or ensured, gaining or regaining stability not only in the UK but also in other parts of the world. So in a situation in which the UK is now the fiscal impulse, the fiscal measures are actually now necessary.
The Czech situation is a bit different from the UK situation. However we also have this kind of sort of negative expectations, or we actually foresee things coming [indistinct]. We sort of managed to survive the first tide of the financial crisis in good health, relatively good health. However we are definitely going to suffer the consequences and we will see the repercussions of the economic slowdown in our country as well. So we also have these kinds of gloomy predictions.
As far as the Czech economy is concerned, if we see a slowdown of the economic growth below 2%, 2 or less, and if we actually hit the bottom or if we get on the verge of recession we will definitely have to implement the same fiscal measures that Britain is implementing now.
So I think that we are quite ready for the first shock. However we still you know have to observe and we actually are quite curious to see what is going to be the actual impact of the economic slowdown on the Czech Republic, which is going to be seen in the next year.
However, I would like to also say on this note that we have to really coordinate out steps, because in the global economy one country can really have a significant impact on the situation in the other countries, so we go hand in hand.
Question:
Prime Minister Brown. A quick question. There are some concerns in some parts of Europe that there is not enough European [indistinct] too Eurosceptic and that Mr Topolanek’s government is not strong enough to lead the European Union in the next six months. You seem not to be sharing these concerns and doubts, so the question is why?
Prime Minister:
Well I am very pleased to work with the Prime Minister, I have worked with him over these last few months at European Council meetings, I have got a great respect for what he has achieved and I know that he has plans for the European Presidency, the first Czech Presidency, which will be very important not just for the Czech Republic but important for the rest of Europe, and I look forward to working with him on a very successful Presidency. He has already outlined the ideas of the Presidency, we are in full agreement with him and we have agreed to work together over the next few months. I am absolutely sure that the Prime Minister will preside over a very successful Presidency.¼/p>
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