European Central: Czexit Supporters Concerned What Joining Eurozone Means For Movement
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Supporters of Brexit tended to be from older generations but most supporters of Czexit are younger. Matej Gregor, the leader of the Odchod Czexit movement, is only 18 years old. The movement has gained momentum in the last year due to a significant rise in criticism over how the European Union has handled the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to the slow rollout of the vaccine, Czechia has had to plead for doses of the vaccine from other countries. Gregor however has clarified that his movement does not have the intention of becoming a political campaign. Instead, he aims to educate Czech citizens about the flaws of the European Union and the promises it has not kept. Kantar conducted a poll in 2019 and found that 34 percent of Czech citizens would vote to leave the European Union, the highest of any member state. While Odchod may not be a political party but there is already a Eurosceptic party. Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), gained 22 seats in the Chamber of Deputies when it won 10.6 percent of the vote in the 2017 elections. The party also won 2 seats in the European Parliament in the 2019 elections.
To be fair, Czechia receives more money from the European Union than it contributes to the budget. In 2018, Czechia received 4.123 billion euros from the EU and contributed 1.720 billion euros to the budget. Even if the European Union did not fulfill specific projects it may have discussed with Czechia before the country joined the bloc, The European Union clearly does help Czechia financially.
Resemblance to the Soviet Union
Supporters of the Odchod movement fear that the European Union is too similar to the Soviet Union. This echoes the same sentiment that has already been expressed by the prime ministers of Hungary and Poland. As Gregor discusses, part of the Euroscepticism in Czechia comes from confusion about the European Union. The bloc however is not actually becoming a carbon copy of the Soviet Union.
While it is true that member states have given up some sovereignty to the European Union, this is for the benefit of the member states. The European Union also takes its time creating new laws in order to create an acceptable compromise, rather than forcing it on the member states. On average, it takes 18 months to adopt a new law. The European Union has also carefully worked to ensure that voting is fair in the Council of the European Union. Depending on the issue, voting can be done by a simple majority which requires 14 member states approval, a qualified majority which requires 15 or more member states that represent at least 65 percent of the EU population, or by a unanimous vote.
The European Union additionally does not use military force when it disagrees with actions carried out by member states. The European Union accepted the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the bloc after a majority voted yes in the referendum. The European Union also respected the referendum Sweden held on the euro which voters rejected adopting the currency. The European Union has not sent troops to Hungary and Poland despite concerns of illiberal reforms in both countries. In fact, the European Union has no army because the member states cannot agree on the issue despite it having been raised repeatedly since the 1950s. It is important to also note that in comparison to the Soviet Union, there is no censorship of media, citizens of the European Union are able to move freely throughout the 27 member states with few limitations, and no gulags exist within the bloc.
How the Eurozone fits into the discussion
Currently, Czechia uses the koruna (crowns) as their official currency. As a member state, they are obligated to join the Eurozone as soon as they meet the four economic convergence criteria. The movement is concerned that if Czechia joins the Eurozone and adopts the euro, it will be more difficult to leave the bloc in the future. This is a barrier that Great Britain never faced as they always retained the British Pound as the official currency. This leaves a lot of uncertainty as no member state has left both, the bloc and the Eurozone.
Gregor does not need to be overly concerned about Czechia joining the Eurozone anytime soon as there is strong opposition to replacing the koruna with the euro. As of 2019, 75 percent of Czechs had a negative opinion towards joining the Eurozone. Aside from public opinion, last December the Czech Finance Ministry and the Czech National Bank both recommended that a date to adopt the euro as the official currency should still not be set. This decision was the result of an annual assessment that looks at whether the Czech economy fulfills the Maastricht convergence criteria.
Economic Progress of Czechia
While Czechia may have not yet economically converged with nations in the European Union such as Germany or Denmark, the economy is still stronger than it was before it joined the European Union. Two years after Czechia joined the European Union in 2004 the median gross hourly wage was equivalent to 3.56 euros and rose to 6.17 euros in 2018. Czechia saw a larger increase in wages than European Union on average as the median grossly hourly wage was 10.7 euros in 2006 and increased to 13.18 euros in 2018 (not including the United Kingdom). GDP per capita has also increased from 12,840 euros in 2004 to 18,330 euros in 2019. However, Czechia’s GDP per capita is still significantly lower than the average EU GDP per capita in 2019 of 28,610 euros. This shows that the national government of Czechia does have valid concerns about a need for more economic convergence before the country joins the eurozone.
