Government agrees on Síkela as new Czech EU Commissioner
The Czech government has decided that the country's candidate for the next European Commission will be the current minister of industry and trade, Jozef Síkela. Prime Minister Petr Fiala said after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening that Mr. Síkela had a proven track record in both the private sector and government. I spoke with Viktor Daněk, deputy director of the Europeum Institute, about the decision and its implications.
So, previously, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that for its next European commissioner, it would prioritize an economic portfolio. Was Síkela’s appointment indicative of that ambition?
“I think the pick of Jozef Síkela clearly shows that this is the ambition of the Czech Republic. Czech governments always wanted to gain an economic portfolio and it never really happened, even though Věra Jourová, the current commissioner, was quite close to the agenda, at least with the digital agenda. But with Síkela and his background, it is safe to say that Czechia was never as close to getting an economic agenda as it is now.”
Why was Síkela chosen in the end over [Danuše] Nerudová, would you say?
“That is a very interesting question because the deal inside the coalition was that the Mayors movement and the Pirates who have the right to propose the nominees. And Ursula von der Leyen always asks for two nominees – a man and a woman.
“So, not respecting the wish indicates that either there was a very difficult situation inside the coalition, or there might be a background deal with von der Leyen that we don’t know about. If there’s no deal, this might provoke a reaction from her; she might ask for a second nominee, a woman, which might complicate the situation for the Czech government.
“But my reading is that the government decided to pursue just one candidate with whom the government thinks Czechia has better chances to gain the economic portfolio it wants.
“So, what the commissioner from Czechia can do is to bring Czech thinking into an area. And I think that in the economic portfolio, this might be very interesting because Czechia is an export-oriented country inside Schengen, inside of the single market. It is very much dependent on the functioning of the single market, on destroying barriers for trade, for example, and making the rules more clear, comprehensible, and just.
“So, bringing Czech thinking into the table might be very interesting for export-oriented countries like Czechia, but it doesn’t mean that the commissioner will make advantages for the country. So, I’m not really sure what the expectation actually is behind the nomination.”
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it was something similar under Věra Jourová. There was an impression that under [Andrej] Babiš she would advance Czech domestic policy, but it didn’t really happen in the end.
“Exactly, it never happened, because the commissioner can’t do that. It’s as simple as that. But with Věra Jourová at the beginning, there was a lot of dissatisfaction that she didn’t gain an economic portfolio, but in the end, she received huge international praise mainly in the areas of consumer protection, regulation of digital business.
“And I don’t think we really recognize how huge the success was, not just in Europe, but internationally. What was part of the success was that she never played just the Czech note or the Czech card; she became, really, a European commissioner. She took the whole of Europe into consideration. She always tried to find the right balance. And she brought the Czech perspective to the table, but she never only played the Czech game in her role.
“If Mr. Síkela would be able to do the same thing, I can’t say, but given that he has a lot of international experience and experience from the government, I suspect that his position in this respect is very good.”
