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whole text Václav Klaus: A View From Prague

I would dare to say more than that. Not only the current stage, but the entire process of the transition was democratic. All the difficult, untried, unknown and politically costly transformation measures have been done by democratically formed political structures, at least in the Czech republic and in most of Central Europe, where political pluralism, parliamentary democracy, fierce competition and rivalry of political parties, unconstrained and therefore absolute freedom of the media fully dominate (this was probably not the case when we move more to the East or South of Europe).

Europe 2000, 13.09.2000

whole text Petr Mach: The Euro Leads Europe into Economic Problems

When politicians in the European Union persuaded the public about the benefits of the single currency, they argued that the euro would increase economic growth, cut unemployment and bring monetary stability to all countries.

The European Journal Vol. 10 No. 4, 10.02.2003

whole text Petr Mach: Joining EU Would Limit Individual Freedom

In June 2003, the voters in the Czech Republic will go to the ballots to express whether they wish their country to join the European Union. The advocates of liberty will have to consider the impact of such a step on the amount of freedom in the country.

The European Journal Vol. 10 No. 4, 10.02.2003

whole text Václav Klaus: How I See this War

War is a terrible thing. This is not a pacifist or a scared phrase from me, but an expression of my fundamental conviction.And not only mine. We live in a country which has more than long-gone historical experience with war and the suffering which goes hand in hand with it. Although the youngest generations have, fortunately, not experienced a war conflict directly – I myself remember the War only as a little child – it is obvious that the vast majority of our public realises quite well what horrors any war conflict brings both to soldiers and to the civilian population. And [the public realises] that we must therefore measure, not twice, but ten times, before we allow generals to take control of resolving political problems and disputes among states.

Hospodářské noviny, 21.03.2003

whole text Petr Mach: Why I Am Not a Euro-Federalist

There are two visions of European order. The first one is Europe of free nations where no nation can set rules to other nations or to the citizens of other nations. Measures of common interest of European nations can be adopted only upon free will of all concerned parties, i.e. upon intergovernmental treaties. No country can be forced to fulfil the wishes of others.

CEVRO, 18.05.2003

whole text Petr Mach: The European Constitution is not a remedy for European economic troubles

Economists and politicians agree that Europe’s economy has been suffering from a serious disease. In 2000 the Lisbon Agenda identified the symptoms of this disease – high unemployment and low economic growth.

Speech for the European Voice conference, 24.06.2004

whole text Petr Mach: The Euro Keeps Germany in Recession

Germany is in recession and on the verge of deflation. It can be argued that this state is connected with the introduction of the common European currency.

www.cepin.cz, 10.09.2004

whole text Petr Mach: The UN will inevitably continue to fail

The war in Iraq revealed the weaknesses of the UN, which in the eyes of many is – or should be – the source of legitimacy of international military actions. These weaknesses, however, are of such a fundamental nature that we must ask whether the organisation’s further existence in its current form has any sense, or whether it has any sense at all.

www.cepin.cz, 10.09.2004

whole text Petr Mach: en myths about the Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union

When in 1989 we called "Back to Europe!," we meant to free ourselves from the bounds of the Asian culture represented by the former Russian ruler over our sovereignty and to rejoin the democratic and capitalist Western Europe. Few years later, with the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, the European Union was established. We took it for granted that "Back to Europe!" now referred to joining the European Union. We pledged an official application in Brussels and began to amend our laws according to the European legislation. Slowly, we started to realize that the European Union was not the ideal to which we wanted to return. We started to have doubts.

in the book NO, NO, NO - only one positive choice, 10.09.2004

whole text Petr Mach: Is Europe an Optimum Political Area?

Nobel Prize Winner in Economics, Robert Mundell, defined the Optimum Currency Area (OCA) as an area where it is efficient to have a common currency. Optimum Currency Area is an area where production factors are mobile, i.e. labor force can move smoothly and wages are flexible. If an area is not such a homogenous economy, it will be better to let the currencies separate and not to implement a single currency. Some economists say the EU is homogenous enough to be considered a Mundellian OCA, while others say it is not, and the system of different currencies with flexible exchange rates would be more advantageous.

Charta Minuta (Italy) No. 45, 10.09.2004