Danuše Nerudová of Mayors and Independents: Predictability is the key to surviving the Green transition

Danuše Nerudová is an economist and university professor and a former rector of Mendel University in Brno. She is running in the European elections for the Mayors and Independents Party.

Ms. Nerudová, a recent poll showed that the issues Czechs are most interested in, in these elections, are security, energy security and migration. Turning first to security. There is a war raging just 300km from the country’s eastern border. Czechia has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine from the start, providing both military and humanitarian aid. Now some parties are increasingly pushing for peace talks. What is your position on this and what is crucial for European security today?

“I think the crucial task for the EU is to provide continued strong support for Ukraine, because Ukraine is also fighting for us. I think that the European Union made a big mistake in 2014, when Putin invaded Crimea, that the response of the EU was very weak. And he took advantage of that to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That should be a lesson to us and I honestly do not understand those voices [calling for peace talks] because we are not the ones who can talk about initiating peace talks. The only person who can do that is President Zelensky, because it is his people who are fighting.

“The only person who can talk about initiating peace talks is President Zelensky, because it is his people who are fighting.”

“And if you look at the results of recent opinion polls in Ukraine, you will see that those people, who are fighting for their country with rockets flying over their heads, are determined not to give up. Around 70 percent of them said in a poll that the country should fight till the end. Three-quarters of the inhabitants of Ukraine do not accept the idea that they could lose any part of Ukraine. So we should strongly support Ukraine in its fight. And I fully understand President Zelensky when he said to the EU – Look how you helped Israel when it was attacked by Hamas –why are you not helping us in the same way? Why do you not close the sky over Ukraine? So I think there will be a discussion about this in the EU, it is a hot topic, and if I were President Zelensky, I would like to hear the answer.”

So how far should Europe go in its support?

“I think that we should be much faster in providing all the things that they need. We should be more flexible in providing the Patriot missile system and things like that.”

What about troops?

“I don’t think that it is time to provide them with troops. We should provide all the military means for them to protect themselves and to fight, but I don’t think that the question of sending troops is on the table. And I think the government clearly stated its position on this.”

Another big issue Czechs are concerned about is migration. We have seen a big wave of migrants from Ukraine and before that Europe faced a big wave of migrants from the Middle East which is likely to continue. We are talking about illegal migration and also about asylum seekers that the country may have to take in. Czechs are not only concerned about stopping illegal migrants at the border but also whether the country can handle more migrants within the solidarity principle when it has just taken in 300,000 from Ukraine. The fear is that when the Migration Pact comes into force, these people may no longer have the status of migrants and Czechia would thus not get an exemption. What is your position on that? Should the Migration Pact be revised?

“First, I think that we have to distinguish between illegal migrants and war refugees. War refugees are a different matter. We have the Geneva Convention and people from Ukraine are war refugees, not migrants. And we have to say aloud, that we are very successful with their integration because in the last year they contributed 18 billion crowns to the state budget. Last month they were paid 1 billion crowns in various forms of support from the state budget, but they contributed 2 billion crowns to it. Therefore, we are quite successful in their integration and 120,000 of them work. We also have 90,000 Ukrainian kids here. If we are able to educate them and offer them jobs, they will substantially contribute to the state budget. That is not the case of Germany or of France. We are quite unique in how efficiently we have been able to integrate them into the society and into the labour market.”

But what about refugees from the Middle East. Would the Czech Republic be equally successful in integrating them?

“What I am missing in it [Migration Pact], is that there is no interaction with third countries, which would enable solving the issue in the migrants’ country of origin.”

“The system we have is not very efficient in dealing with illegal migration to Europe. Not to the Czech Republic, because we are just a transit country, all the illegal migrants want to go to France and Germany. So thank God we have approved part of the legislation on the table because not all the acts have been approved [of the Migration Pact]. You can see in the EU that there is a lot of emotion around this. Left-wing parties are talking about the end of humanity in the European Union, right-wing parties say that we need better protection. So emotions are running high and I think that we need more rationality in the debate.

“Thank God that we have started to regulate migration, that you can find there the introduction of detention on the EU’s external borders. With detention you have control over the flow, over who is moving around the EU, also a fast repatriation process. What I am missing in it, and what I am dissatisfied about, is that there is no interaction with third countries, which would enable solving the issue in the migrants’ country of origin. This is something Europe needs to work on, but I consider the Migration Pact a good basis on which to build.  And I think it will be a huge task for the newly-elected European Parliament, because the number of migrants will inevitably increase. We will face climate migration and we will not stop migration by having billboards with the words “Stop Migration!” We really need to act and we need to protect the European Union.”

Another hugely divisive issue is the Green Deal. Many parties running in the elections are highly critical of the Green Deal. Czechs are concerned, primarily, about the ban on combustion engines, because the economy is driven by the automotive industry, people fear the looming ban on gas boilers and we have seen farmers’ protests over restrictions linked to the Green Deal. How are you going to address those concerns? Should the Green Deal be revised?

“Yes, the Green deal needs to be revised, because it was approved in a completely different environment, before the war.“

“Yes, the Green deal needs to be revised, because it was approved in a completely different environment, before the war. The war is the game changer, the fight for resources is the game changer and security is the game changer. So definitely, the Green Deal will have to be revised. But the Green Deal also comprises of a lot of acts which are OK, like the reconsideration of the EU ETS (Emissions Trading System), the introduction of CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism), the introduction of a social climate fund. There are a lot of things that need to be reconsidered in the area of energy and so on, but climate change is taking place, we can see it on the street, we are the first generation that is facing it and the last one who can change it.”

But the really big polluters –like the US, China, India, Brazil –are not really pulling their weight. And what critics are saying is that with its 8 percent share of emissions, Europe will undercut its economic growth and is it worthwhile when the others are not making a move in this direction?   

“Yes, that is what I am talking about –that we need to take into account the state of our industry and the fact that there are more industrial countries in Europe, such as the Czech Republic, and we will have to discuss how to support the industry in the Green transition. I talk to the CEOs of Czech companies and they all know about the Green transition, but they are all addressing one issue – and that is predictability. They are reckoning with the Green transition, but they would like to be sure that once there is an act telling them to do something, that it will still be valid in three, four or five years’ time.  Or else, if changes are to be made, that they will let them know in advance –which is not the case at the moment. So for the European industry, predictability is the crucial issue how to survive the Green transition.

“And the second thing is the raising of capital. We need to accumulate enough capital to undertake the Green transition and this is very much connected with the creation of a capital market, which is very fragmented in the EU and is not working as efficiently as it is working in the United States. The businesses need a functioning capital market in the EU for the Green transition to raise the money for the investments needed. And that is not just a question of public investments, but private investments as well, because private investments should be supported. We have the internal market so we should be able to use the advantages stemming from the huge internal market that we have in the EU.”

Do you feel that Europe is overregulated –that fewer regulations would increase Europe’s competitiveness?

“Definitely, that’s on the table. There should be less regulation and also we should assess the impact of the given legislation on business, three or four years later. Because once a directive is approved, nobody is considering its impact on the business –or only in some of the directives adopted by the European Parliament. I think a review clause should be in every directive.”

There has also been a big debate about the difficulty of EU decision-making, given the number of countries in the alliance – and the right of veto. The right of veto still applies in three areas – defense, foreign policy and finances –elsewhere you have qualified majority voting. Would you be in favour of having qualified majority voting everywhere or should the right of veto be maintained?

“If somebody says that they want to maintain the right of veto and the second sentence is that we need to enlarge the EU, then they are just lying, because that is not possible.”

“We need to open up the discussion and reconsider this – especially if we are talking about EU enlargement not by one country but by more countries. Every huge enlargement of the EU was accompanied by changes in the treaties and that is what is going to be on the table. If somebody says that they want to maintain the right of veto and the second sentence is that we need to enlarge the EU, then they are just lying, because that is not possible. So we need to open up the discussion in which areas and how to change the process.

“But I have to say that again, there is a lot of emotion and zero rationality in the discussion in the Czech Republic, because it is not connected to the loss of national sovereignty as some would argue. Because in 97 percent of the decisions taken the Czech Republic was in line with the others. And only in 1 percent of cases we voted against. So we are very efficient in searching for allies and in creating coalitions, so I wouldn’t be afraid of losing the right of veto in certain areas including international affairs.”

According to a survey only around 35 percent of eligible voters in this country plan to go to the polls. Why is it important for Czechs to go to the polls in these elections and why should they vote for the Mayors and Independents?

“These elections are going to be about whether we will be electing populists and Euro-sceptics to the EU, who will be blocking everything and who will constantly be saying NO, or whether we will vote for people who will be actively trying to create a future EU.”

“Because these elections are going to be about whether we will be electing populists and Euro-sceptics  to the EU, who will be blocking everything and who will constantly be saying NO, or whether we will vote for people who will be actively trying to create a future EU and to get the best for the Czech Republic. So if you would like to have people in the European Parliament who are active in creating a future European Union and who will be working to get the best for the Czech Republic then vote for the Mayors and Independents.”

Danuše Nerudová is a Czech economist and university professor. She chaired the Commission for Fair Pensions and served as rector of Mendel University in Brno. In 2023, Nerudová ran in the Czech presidential election, finishing in third place in the first round of the vote.

Her research focuses on tax policy and the harmonization of taxes within the European Union, economic inequality between men and women, and the long-term sustainable financing of pension systems.

She studied economic policy and administration at the Faculty of Operational Economics at Mendel University, completing her master's degree in 2002 and doctoral degree in 2005. In 2017, she was named a professor in the field of economics.