EGP outlines expectations of Czech Presidency of EU:
The Spokespersons of the European Green Party today outlined their demands for the Czech presidency of the EU which starts on January 1st 2009.
EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts said "We very much hope that the Czech government make the ratification of the Lisbon treaty a top priority .We know that the Czech Greens, who are in the government coalition, are pushing hard for this and we call on all other political parties to stop using the crucially important question of ratification of the treaty as a way of gaining concessions on other completely unrelated issues. We are confident that the Czech Greens, who have the most positive approach to the EU of all the government parties, will ensure that the Czech government will make progress on the key challenges facing the EU such as climate change and the economic crisis."
EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek continued: "The Czech Environment Minister, the Green Party's Martin Bursik, has already done a huge amount of work in terms of ensuring that the government makes combating climate challenge one of their top priorities and we know that he and his Greencolleagues will be doing everything they can to facilitate the speedy implementation of the recently agreed EU climate and energy package. Finding innovative and practical solutions to the current economic crisis will also have to figure prominently in the Czech Presidency's programme and we share the view of the Czech Education Minister, Ondrej Liska, who is also a Green, that it is vital that the EU invests much more in the fields of education and research. We also hope that the Czech Presidency will be able to renew the transatlantic relationship, given the new US administration and its more multilateral inclination"
