C ZECH  R EPUBLIC

Author
Davide Tarasconi (S081N0057)
info@davidetarasconi.net

Course
Current European Issues (IREL­361)
Spring 2008
University of Nicosia

Licence
This paper is released under a Creative Commons Attribution­
1
NonCommercial­NoDerivativeWorks 3.0 Licence .

I NTRODUCTION

The Czech Republic was among the last­entering Member States in the 

biggest and historical European Union enlargement of 2004: the former 

Czechoslovakia  widened   the   European   Union   roster   along   with   its 

peacefully­split neighbor Slovakia and Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, 

Malta, Cyprus and Hungary.

This   landlocked   country   presented   itself   as   one   of   the   richest   post­

communist   countries   and   as   one   of   the   most   promising   in   terms   of 

integration and economical performances.

1
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The   willingness   of   being   the   most   important   addition   to   the   European 

Union   has   led   and   is   leading   Czech   Republic   toward   better   and   better 

performances   on   both   economical   and   policies’   implementations   sides. 

Anyway the difficulties for the integration of this former Soviet country are 

solid and real: great efforts must be taken to overcome management and 

organizational problems as well as social and policies issues.

During the next paragraphs I will present a sort of comprehensive profile of 

the country: economical  and social  profiles  as well as issues regarding 

integration problems facing European Union’s enlargement.

E CONOMY , P OLITY   AND  S OCIETY

Economical profile

Czech Republic is one of the most promising East­European country in 

terms   of   economic   growth   and   “catching­up”   abilities:   low   inflation   and 

interest rates fostered a GDP growth from 2% up to 6% from 2002 to 2005, 

pushing the growth levels of this post­soviet country far beyond other East 

an West­European countries. 
 10
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5
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2
1
0

Spain Ireland France

Germany Belgium
Luxembourg
CzechÊRepublic UnitedÊKingdom

Figure 1 ­ Long Term Interest Rates, percentage, 2006. Source: OECD Factbook 2008: Economic,  
Environmental and Social Statistics ­ ISBN 92­64­04054­4 ­ © OECD 2008.

Just after the inclusion in the European Union, an important recognition for 

Czech  Republic’s  great  effort   toward   economic   and   social   development 

came from the World Bank, which entitled Czech Republic, in 2006, as an 

official “developed country.”

2
In the words of Markéta Šichtařová , a leading Czech economist, Czech 

Republic

“[…]is   not   a   transformation   country   anymore.   Its   financial  

market   is   very   developed,   it   left   Communist   Czechoslovakia  

behind almost 20 years ago, it is a member of the European  

Union, our interest rates are lower than in the Euro zone. In no  

regard does it fulfill a general image of a transformation country  

2
 “Study ranks Czech Republic first among transforming countries” – (see “Other web references”)
 anymore.”

Czech   Republic   is   by   far   the   most   heavy   industrialized   East­European 

country:   its   main   exports   and   imports’   fields   are   machine­building, 

production of iron and steel, metalworking and in general heavy industries 

fields along with chemical production. In particular the industrial machine­

building  sector   and   the   chemical   production   performed   a  good   growing 

performance due to exports and imports to the European Union, especially 

with an industrial giant like Germany.

Being part of the EU’s common market increased Czech Republic trades 

with other European countries, finding new markets for its products and 

offering itself as new market for foreign products: due to its growing and 

stable   growth   Czech   Republic   quickly   became   an   interesting   region   for 

foreign investors.

Manufacturing Services
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35
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15
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5
0

Spain France Ireland

Germany Belgium
Luxembourg
United Kingdom Czech Republic

Figure   2  ­  Employment   in   manufacturing   and   services   in   affiliates   under   foreign   control,   as   a  

percentage   of   total   employment   (2005   or   latest   available   year)   Source:   OECD   Factbook   2008:  
Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics ­ ISBN 92­64­04054­4 ­ © OECD 2008.

Apart   from   the   industrial   and   agricultural   sectors   (mainly   hops,   wheat, 

potatoes, fodder roots and sugar beets), Czech Republic, and mostly its 

capital Prague, is a well­known attraction for European tourists: the low­

cost nightlife of the capital and the beautiful hiking and skiing landscapes 

ignite the tourism sector, which accounts for 5,5% of the Gross National 

Product and employs 110000 people – over 1% of the population.

France Ireland Spain

Belgium Germany
Luxembourg Netherlands
UnitedÊKingdom CzechÊRepublic

Figure 3  ­ Arrivals of non­resident tourist staying in hotels and similar establishments,  Average  

annual growth in percentage, 1996­2006 or latest available period. Source: OECD Factbook 2008:  
Economic, Environmental and Social Statistics ­ ISBN 92­64­04054­4 ­ © OECD 2008.

The heritage from the communist era is still a burden for Czech Republic’s 

industry:   the   country   is   still   undergoing   a   long   process   that   includes 

restructuring   obsolete   industrial   sectors,   increasing   transparency   in 

businesses, fighting a high rate of corruption (which is among the highest, 
even   if   in   a   decreasing   trend,   in   the   EU),   as   well   as   continuing   the 

privatization process in banking and health care system. 

Even with such a good performance Czech Republic’s economy will face 

some difficulties in the near future: an inflation’s spike is expected during 

2008 as a result of new taxations rules, aimed to enforce a more strict 

fiscal policy required by EU’s standard. 

The positive trend of Czech Republic’s economy is expected to continue 

as the country is approachin the last stage remaining for the switching to 

the Euro currency in 2010.

Policy priorities

The process of Czech Republic’s integration began in 1999: that was a 

particular   difficult   time   for   the   country   that   was   facing   an   increasing   of 

inflation   rate   from   1998   (the   first   serious   economic   crisis   since   ’89 

revolution),   followed   by   a   rising   of   the   unemployment   rate   that   almost 

jeopardized the speed of the integration processes.

After   ’98­’99   crisis   Czech   government   worked   hard   to   follow   EU’s 

regulations   and   to   implement   policies   to   reduce   unemployment   and 

inflation rate: in 1999, the unemployment rate rose up to 8.7% ­ from 6.5% 

3 
in 1998. It fell in 2000, 2001 and 2002, and was down to 7.3% in 2002

(Figure   2   show   a   stark   contrast   with   the   employment   situation   in 

neighboring Slovakia).

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15

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Ireland France Spain

Belgium Germany

UnitedÊKingdom CzechÊRepublic SlovakÊRepublic

Figure   4  ­   Unemployment   rates,  As   a   percentage   of   civilian   labour   force,   average   1996­2006.  
Source:   OECD   Factbook   2008:   Economic,   Environmental   and   Social   Statistics   ­   ISBN   92­64­
04054­4 ­ © OECD 2008.

There’s   no   need   to   say   that   political   life   in   Czech   Republic   in   the   last 

decade has been animated by support for the integration of the European 

Union’s common policies’ body, also known as Community Acquis.

ECONOMICAL REFORMS

On the side of economic reforms, Czech government had to establish a 

set of short­term policy priorities, dealing with EU’s guidelines, aimed to 

reach   a  balance   between  country’s internal  markets and  EU’s common 

3
 “Czech Republic: Adoption of the Community Acquis” (see “Other web references”)
market. 

Moreover, the renewal of some strategic sectors, like heavy­industries and 

banking, was highlighted as crucial by the EU to allow Czech Republic’s 

main industrials’ drivers to compete against the most developed industries 

and sectors in the common market. Even if Czech Republic is not in a 

hurry in joining the Eurozone, a lot of policies and control measures has 

been taken in order to stabilize and to benchmark the national currency 

performance inside the common exchange market.

ORGANIZATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL REFORMS

Apart from strictly economical aspects, a lot of decisions have been taken 

regarding   institutional   and   organizational   reforms:   being   part   of   the 

European Union required Czech Republic to undergo a deep revision of its 

institutions’   organization,   both   at   the   local   and   national   levels.   Czech 

institutions require, in general, more efficient supervision abilities, in order 

to reduce corruption problems and to increase transparency.

TRADE AND MARKETS REFORMS

One of the keyword regarding policies implementation is “standardization”, 

in   other   words   the   ability   to   align   national   laws   and   regulation   with 
European Union’s ones: strong efforts toward standardization have been 

undertaken   to   regulate   the   internal   market,   especially   in   the   fields   of 

intellectual   property   rights   and   anti­trust   laws.   In   particular,   these   last 

regulations aim to eradicate legal and illegal monopolies that can be easily 

present   in   the   “organizational   culture”   of   a   post­communist   country   like 

Czech Republic.

Since   the   accession   process   began,   Czech   Republic,   like   any   other 

accession country, received  a  huge amount  of financial  aid: in order  to 

successfully organize the funds, a complete new set of institutions have 

been created following EU’s guidelines to ensure the highest level possible 

of transparency.

The same transparency regulations for standardization are applied to the 

free movement of goods, capital and services in order to strengthen the 

ties between Czech internal market and EU common market.

Needless to say that transforming a communist economy into an almost 

fully integrated common market in less that 15 years should make both 

European Union and Czech governments very proud of the work done.

Entering the EU and receiving aid scheduled by the Common Agricultural 

Policy forced Czech Republic to reform some of its agricultural institutions 

to achieve higher standards on hygiene and public health issues, as well 
as modernizing milk and meat production industries.

SOCIAL REFORMS

European   Union’s   well­known   social   stability   comes   from   a   strong, 

commonly­shared policy that enhance employment and social security: for 

this reason Czech government is required to apply policies to protect low­

income   workers,   for   example   by   reducing   high   tax   wedge   to   reduce 

incentives for subcontracting with self­employed workers.

2000 2050
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80

60

40

20

Ireland France Spain

Belgium Germany
Luxembourg
United Kingdom Czech Republic

Figure 5 ­ Ratio of the inactive elderly population aged 65 and over to the labour force, percentage.  
Source:   OECD   Factbook   2008:   Economic,   Environmental   and   Social   Statistics   ­   ISBN   92­64­
04054­4 ­ © OECD 2008.

Like the vast majority of other EU countries, Czech Republic has to face a 

serious social issue coming from an ageing population: discussions about 

reforming the pension system are one of the main political topics as the 

country entered the EU.
Being   part   of   a   common   market   has   advantages   but   also   some 

drawbacks: new skills are required by information technology and tertiary 

sectors and Czech educational systems should be able to change at a 

higher   pace   in   order   to   offer   potential   employees   with   up­to­date 

knowledge and to improve knowledge of the existing workforce through 

training programs.

Society

European   Union   multi­cultural     and   multi­ethnic   society   is   one   of   its 

remarkable   features:   nonetheless   keeping   different   cultures   and 

populations   together   it’s   a   difficult   task,   especially   regarding   top­down 

policies that all Member States have to follow. There can be problems of 

communication   and   understanding   that   can   affect   how   a   population 

perceive   European   Union,   and   especially   how   a   population   see   itself 

compared to the other EU’s populations.

Czechs seem to have a perception of their social reality that is, generally 

speaking,   quite   positive   if   compared   with   other   long­time   EU   Member 

States’   populations.   Moreover   they   seem   aware   about   EU’s   regional 

policies  and in particular the percentage of Czechs that are aware that 

their country is benefiting from EU aid is pretty high (73% against EU27 
 4
average of 70%) .

Some   controversies   are   shown   by   recent   surveys:   although   every 

economical   indicator   shows   consistent   improvement,   especially   on 

inflation and unemployment rate, Czechs complain about a general feeling 

of lack of social security regarding jobs and rising prices.

Because of their fresh communist past Czech population seem to have a 

general lack of faith in national government and institutions: the picture is 

about a population that holds more faith in EU initiatives than from its own 

government.   Only   34%   of   Czechs   trust   their   government   and   just   21% 

trust the Parliament while the 58% of the trust the EU (EU27 average is 

5
48%) .

The huge change of the economical environment in the last fifteen years 

put   Czech   Republic   in   a   delicate,   “in­between”   situation   where   people 

understand the opportunities coming from the opening markets while they 

can also perceive that working conditions in some sectors are not going to 

improve, especially regarding career prospects.

4
 “Citizens’ perception of EU Regional Policy” – Eurobarometer (see “Statistical References”)
5
 Standard Eurobarometer 68, October­November 2008 (see “Statistical References”)
I SSUES   FACING  E UROPEAN  U NION   INTEGRATION

Eurozone

As we saw before, the brilliant economic performance of Czech Republic 

6
is leading the country to be part of the Eurozone : Czech government has 

no rush in forcing the currency change, no date for this objective has been 

set yet. 

Even if its economy is working well, Czech Republic’s figures about price 

levels   and   hourly   labour   costs   are   quite   lower   compared   to   EU   and 

7
Eurozone   averages .   However   before   switching   to   the   Euro   currency 

Member States have to enter a kind of two­years­long “transition program” 

8
called ERM II : unlike other new Member States, Czech Republic didn’t 

enter this program yet and it’s probably switching the currency not before 

6
 “The latest figures suggest the Czech Republic could easily meet the debt and deficit criteria to 
adopt the single European currency, the euro. The Maastricht criteria set a 3.0 percent of GDP 
ceiling for the public deficit and 60 percent guideline for debt.” – “Czech official data says 2007 
public deficit fell to 1.58 per cent” (see “Other web references”)

7
 “In 2005, the Czech price level was roughly 56% of the euro area average and 58% of the EU 
average. Hourly labour costs were about 27% of the euro area average and 31% of the EU average. 
The process of real convergence and the growth in the relative price and wage levels are likely to 
continue.”

8
 ERM II (exchange rate mechanism) is the last procedure a country must follow before switching to 
euro: it consist in a two­year period during which the national currency is locked with an “almost 
fixed” ratio to the euro.
2010. An interesting result from  an  Eurobarometer  survey is that public 

opinion perception about the switching is set in reality on 2012.

Environment

Czech Republic’s industries are heavily reliant on coal­based power: the 

country is one of the major greenhouse gases producer of the European 

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Union . On this particular issue there are a lot of controversies involving 

other   post­Soviet   countries   that   see   themselves   heavily   disadvantaged 

from EU pollution restrictions. 

Czech Republic heavily depends upon external supplies of gas (especially 

from Russia) and the conversion of its coal­based industries will make the 

country even more dependant on external energy sources.

Strategies for integration of the Roma

As  many post­Soviet  countries,  Czech  Republic   had   to   face   with   many 

social integration problems, especially regarding Roma people. The Roma 

were officially recognized and politically represented during the communist 

9
  “Three­fifths   of   current   Czech   electricity   production   comes   from   coal­fired   plants,   which   are 
amongst   the   biggest   producers   of   greenhouse   gases   and   would   be   penalised   heavily   by   the 
allowances purchase plan” – “Czechs urge slow phase in for carbon emissions market” (see “Other 
web references”)
era, but they lost their “privileges” back in 1989, although they weren’t a 

political factor, politically speaking, and their only privileges were housing 

and (compulsory) employment: efforts to re­integrate the Roma population 

in Czech Republic’s social, political and economical life began again in 

1997.

For   Czech   Republic   it’s   extremely   important   to   recognize   and   to 

demonstrate to the EU that the country can overcome the traditional forms 

of exclusion that historically hit the Roma population in every European 

Union countries.

On the other hand, some of the Roma communities, especially at a local 

level, are organizing themselves, working with NGOs and the state in order 

to achieve some kind of political identity.

Discrimination and isolation of the Roma are highlighted by high rates of 

unemployment: in 1999 the average unemployment rate for Czech people 

was around 10%, rising up to a dramatic 70% among Roma community.

The Roma were classified as a “social problem” left to local authorities 

until the end of 1997, when a report about the Roma conditions was issued 

by and for the Czech government. During the communist era Roma people 

were involved with “informal networks” to overcome the difficulties coming 

from exclusion, very often in illegal ways.
The biggest integration problem is coming from the European Union and 

it’s a sort of “missing actor” in the strategic efforts Czech Republic is taking 

at local levels: EU’s policies regarding employments and social aid rules 

are totally unsuitable for the resolution of the Roma issue. These policies 

define in a very strict way what is a wanted recruit for the labour market 

(and Roma people are not) and what is an unwanted migrant.

10
There are two main alternatives for the Roma in Czech Republic : one 

can be called “exit option” and it’s about finding personal, individual and 

informal   (often   illegal)   ways   to   organize   the   communities,   as   well   as 

migrating from the country in an endless research for a better place.

On the other hand, the “voice option” is a more collaborative and civil one, 

but   needs   to   be   supported   by   Czech   government   and   requires   local 

policies that must be understood and supported also by an almost absent 

European Union.

The   Roma   situation   in   Czech   Republic   must   be   used   as   a   positive 

example,   a   benchmark   programs   meeting   local   willingness   to   integrate 

minorities as well as an important role for a European Union finally able to 

understand local policies regarding minorities.

10
 “Local Strategies for Civic Inclusion in a European Context: the Roma in the Czech Republic” – 
(See “Other web references”)
C ONCLUSIONS

THE   ENLARGEMENT   AND   THE   FUTURE   OF  C ZECH  R EPUBLIC

The 2004 enlargement “experiment” has been an economical success: all 

the   new   Member   States   had   a   long  period   of  strong  economic   growth, 

outperforming the “old” Member States’ economies (from ’97 to 2005 new 

Member States had and average GDP growth by 3.75%, compared with 

2.5% by EU15). 

The incomes of the new Member States are still quite lower than the ones 

of  old  members,  and  this  aspect  highlight  how  much   the   legacy  of  the 

communist   era   influence   today’s   economy:   these   incomes   are   anyway 

slowly rising from 44% to 50% of the EU15 average while skeptical voices 

highlights that with these type of rate the new Member States will attain 

the same income levels of the old Member States in more than 50 years.

The overall picture of this enlargement is quite positive and all the growing 

trends of economical, financial and trading sectors seem to be confirmed 

also for the near future in all the new Member States: the opening of the 

markets between old and new Member States increased the volume of 

trades   and   the   foreign   investments   are   also   increasing,   creating   new 
opportunities for jobs and ventures.

80 000

70 000

60 000

50 000

40 000

30 000

20 000

10 000

Spain France Ireland

Germany Belgium
Luxembourg
CzechÊRepublic UnitedÊKingdom

Figure 6  ­  GDP per capita,  US dollars, current prices and PPPs, 2006 or latest available year.  

Source:   OECD   Factbook   2008:   Economic,   Environmental   and   Social   Statistics   ­   ISBN   92­64­
04054­4 ­ © OECD 2008.

Euroskeptical comments about negative factors affecting European Union 

budget can be easily avoided showing that, even if the contribution of the 

new Member  States to the European budget is obviously  less than old 

members one, the EU15 countries contribute only with 0.1% of their GDP 

to the economic aid for the new Member States: following new directives 

for   new  Member   States  development,   this   ratio   is  going   to  increase   by 

2013.

To   overcome   organizational   problems   coming   from   municipal 

fragmentation and the integration of the Roma are for sure two of the main 

issues that Czech Republic’s government must face in order to achieve 
higher benchmarking abilities and improved human rights’ standards and 

to become one of the best­performing new country of the new European 

Union.

If we think that the Velvet Revolution was just in ’89 and that at the present 

days   Czech   Republic   is   outperforming   the   vast   majority   of   European 

Union’s countries in most of the economical indicators we should forget 

about   the   critics   for   a   while   and   rather   think   about   a   miracle:   all   the 

difficulties   that  Czech   Republic   is   facing  come   from  its  recent   past   but 

there are a lot of reasons to imagine that the country is able to face all the 

future challenges.

Since   enlargement   is   mainly   about   integration,   it   should   be   a   two­way 

integration:   European   Union   showed   little   comprehension   of   local 

problems, especially regarding  the  Roma while  there is a sure need of 

openness toward less restrictive top­down regulations and more tolerance 

and diplomatic abilities to find ways to implement local and finally effective 

policies.  
S TATISTICAL  REFERENCES

EUROBAROMETER
Source for statistics and surveys about the European Union.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm

EUROSTAT
European Union statistical service.
http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/

OECD STATISTICS
OECD’s statistical portal.
www.oecd.org/statistics/

W IKIPEDIA  R EFERENCES

“CZECH REPUBLIC”
From Wikipedia
Date of last revision: 8 April 2008 06:52 UTC
Date retrieved: 8 April 2008 11:05 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Czech_Republic&oldid=204167350

“MILITARY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC”
From Wikipedia
Date of last revision: 29 March 2008 20:38 UTC
Date retrieved: 8 April 2008 10:50 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_of_the_Czech_Republic&oldid=20188
6121

“ECONOMY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC”
From Wikipedia
Date of last revision: 30 March 2008 18:36 UTC
Date retrieved: 8 April 2008 11:03 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Economy_of_the_Czech_Republic&oldid=202
106434

“POLITICS OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC”
From Wikipedia
Date of last revision: 18 March 2008 13:21 UTC
Date retrieved: 8 April 2008 11:09 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Politics_of_the_Czech_Republic&oldid=19907
7142

“VELVET REVOLUTION”
From Wikipedia
Date of last revision: 6 April 2008 17:36 UTC
Date retrieved: 8 April 2008 11:07 UTC
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Cite&page=Velvet_Revolution&id=20
3789170

OTHER WEB REFERENCES

“WORLD BANK MARKS CZECH REPUBLIC'S GRADUATION TO 'DEVELOPED' STATUS”
Article from Radio Praha by Jan Velinger
Date of publishing: 28 February 2006
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/76314

“CZECH REPUBLIC TO JOIN SCHENGEN”
Article form Prague Post by Jeffrey White
Date of publishing: 16 December 2006
http://www.praguepost.com/articles/2006/12/13/czech-republic-to-join-schengen.php

“CZECH REPUBLIC: INFLATION SPIKE”
Article from OECD Observer
OECD Observer No. 264/265, December 2007­January 2008
http://www.oecdobserver.org/news/fullstory.php/aid/2372/Czech_Republic:_Inflation_spi
ke.html

“COURT RULES AGAINST SPECIAL SCHOOLS FOR ROMA”
Article from Euractiv
Date published: 15 November 2007
http://euractiv.com/en/socialeurope/court-rules-special-schools-roma/article-168424

“EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES”
Dossier from Euractiv
Date of publishing: 17 January 2007
Date of last revision: 13 July 2007
http://euractiv.com/en/socialeurope/equal-opportunities/article-160979

“INTERVIEW: CZECHS TO PUSH FOR 'EUROPE WITHOUT BARRIERS' AT EU HELM”
Interview from Euractiv
Date of publishing: 21 February 2008
http://euractiv.com/en/opinion/interview-czechs-push-europe-barriers-eu-helm/article-
170428
“CZECH OFFICIAL DATA SAYS 2007 PUBLIC DEFICIT FELL TO 1.58 PER CENT”
Article from EUbusiness
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1207068791.03/

“CZECHS URGE SLOW PHASE IN FOR CARBON EMISSIONS MARKET”
Article from EUbusiness
http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/1204740124.29/

“STUDY RANKS CZECH REPUBLIC FIRST AMONG TRANSFORMING COUNTRIES”
Article from Radio Praha by Jan Velinger
Date of publishing: 19 February 2008
http://www.radio.cz/en/article/101027

“THE CZECH REPUBLIC’S UPDATED EURO­AREA ACCESSION STRATEGY”
Ministry of Finance of Czech Republic, 2007
http://www.mfcr.cz/cps/rde/xchg/mfcr/hs.xsl/eu_acc_stra_33780.html

“LOCAL STRATEGIES FOR CIVIC INCLUSION IN A EUROPEAN CONTEXT: THE ROMA IN THE 
CZECH REPUBLIC”
Essay from “One Europe or Several?” by M. Castle­Kanerova and B. 
Jordan
http://one-europe.ac.uk/pdf/w34kanerova.pdf

“EXCHANGE RATE MECHANISM (ERM II) BETWEEN THE EURO AND PARTICIPATING NATIONAL 
CURRENCIES”

Institutional and economic framework of the Euro, from EU’s website.
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l25082.htm

“ENLARGEMENT, TWO YEARS AFTER­ AN ECONOMICAL SUCCESS”
Economical and monetary affairs: Enlargement, from EU’s website.
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/e50026.htm

“CZECH REPUBLIC ­ ADOPTION OF THE COMMUNITY ACQUIS”
Summary from EU’s website.
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/e02107.htm

“PARTNERSHIP FOR THE ACCESSION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC”
From EU’s website.
http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/e40107.htm
OTHER REFERENCES

“EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS”
Michelle Cini
Oxford University Press
Second Edition, 2007

“CURRENT EUROPEAN ISSUES”
Slides from the course’s material.