Martin Ehl: there is a need for stable institutions on the way to the EU

Martin Ehl

What is most important today on the way to the EU, what challenges does the Union itself feel in connection with the record expansion in the zero years and the early ‘tens’? The Newssky has asked the chief analyst of the Prague Hospodářské noviny Martin Ehl to comment on this.

Being a candidate country seemed easy because it looked like a lot of paperwork but no real delivery of changes at home. That was our lesson when we have been adapting to EU rules and laws — it was much easier done on paper than in reality. As a result, there is enlargement fatigue within the EU and not a strong will to allow new member states which would fake their effort as many other countries did. So, my recommendation would be to do changes properly and in reality, otherwise, the EU project itself is doomed. There must be strong, functional institutions of a democratic state which is the aspect we have underestimated in our accession process not to please those who are putting money into the common EU basket, but because of ourselves and own prosperity and stability. If you watch what is happening in Bulgaria, Hungary, or Poland, it is necessary to have strong and stable institutions like the police, judiciary, or political parties not to have the state being hijacked by any private domestic or foreign political interests. And, of course, if Ukraine would be able to build such institutions successfully then it would also be much easier to talk about money that your country will need for reconstruction.

In Ukrainian

Maryna Kovalchuk, Newssky, contributed