20 Years of Czechia in the EU: From Enthusiasm via Euroscepticism to Pragmatism

• In Event: Central and Eastern Europe Twenty Years after EU Enlargement

Abstract

This paper focuses on the formation of the Czech attitude towards the European Union throughout the 20 years of EU membership. The presentation will analyze the impact of governments’, parties’ and other political actors’ attitudes and approaches towards the European Union. It will focus on changes from initial enthusiast mood connected with the “return to Europe” slogan of the 1989 Velvet Revolution via growing critical response up to pragmatic approach. It will identify the main sources and roots of the three highlighted stages as well as its consequences and mutual impact (EU on Czechia and its political actors and vice versa). The process of Europeanization of political actors will be analyzed using the traditional theoretical frameworks and methodological tools.

Author

• Petr Just, Metropolitan University Prague