Klaus's Diatribe

摘要

"The best thing to do now would be to weaken, if not repeal, various labour, environmental, social, health and other 'standards'," to help Europe come out of the economic recession, said Czech President Vaclav Klaus, adding that "the Czech government will - hopefully - not lead Europe to an ever-closer union, to a Europe of regions (instead of states), to a centralised, supranational Europe". These statements, published in an article in the Financial Times by the man who assumed the EU Presidency on 1 January, arouses not only concern, but anger. The Party of European Socialists (PES) reacted immediately, rejecting this call and pressing the Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek to "immediately" publish a declaration, according to which the country's president speaks "in his own name" and not in the name of the government and that his views "do not reflect the Presidency's priorities".