Nuclear power dominates Czech prime minister’s French visit

Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas is in Paris for a two-day visit, the first since he took office last July. Nuclear energy dominates Mr Nečas’ agenda on the trip; on Thursday, the Czech prime minister and his French counterpart, Francois Fillon, signed an agreement on cooperation in the energy, education and other sectors. Mr Nečas is also set to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy later on Friday.

Petr Nečas, Francois Fillon, photo: CTK

Relations between the Czech Republic and France hit a low point a few years ago, during the Czech presidency of the European Union. Czech politicians felt that President Nicholas Sarkozy and his team had little trust in the first post-communist country holding the rotating presidency of the European Council.

Whether the French were right or wrong about the Czech presidency, these issues seem to have been swept under the carpet. On Thursday, Petr Nečas and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon signed an agreement on cooperation between the two countries in security, energy and science and research sectors. Tereza Šupová is covering Mr Nečas’ visit for the Czech daily Lidové noviny. She described the main topics at the prime minister’s meeting.

“They had many issues to discuss but they mostly focused on three, as Prime Minister Nečas later said. One was bilateral relations between the two countries, another had to do with the planned changes to the Lisbon treaty, and the third was energy.”

Cooperation in nuclear energy dominates the agenda of Mr Nečas’ Paris trip. The French nuclear group Areva is one of three bidders for a multi-billion deal to build two new blocks at the Czech nuclear power plant in Temelín. Mr Nečas informed his hosts about the selection procedure, and said Czech companies would like to cooperate closely with Areva and other firms, should the French nuclear firm land the big contract. Lidové noviny’s Tereza Šupová again.

“The Czechs have been telling the French side that if Areva wins the deal, it should cooperate closely with Czech firms. Prime Minister Nečas brought a lot of businesspeople with him to Paris, and they met with the French trade minister, the head of Areva and other companies, so we could perhaps see them working together more closely.”

When it came to EU affairs, however, it was obvious that French and Czech positions differ. France, along with Germany, is pushing for amendments to the Lisbon treaty that would introduce tighter fiscal rules and a closer economic government within the eurozone. The Czech Republic is outside the 17 EU nations which have the common European currency but Prime Minister Petr Nečas said that for Czechs hearing about the planned measures feels like biting into a lemon.

Petr Nečas, photo: CTK

But despite these differences, the relations between the two countries, or at least their governments, seem to have been given a new impulse. Tereza Šupová recounts how Mr Nečas waxed lyrical about their rapport.

“From what I have seen, the relations have improved. When I asked Prime Minister Nečas about it, he said the relations were like the sky without clouds, that everything has improved and the past issues are forgotten.”

Prime Minister Petr Nečas is scheduled to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy later on Friday, probably hoping relations between Prague and Paris will stay on course even after the encounter with the prickly French leader.