Publication

When the Czech Republic's Presidency of the EU came to an end on 30 June 2009, a deep, collective sigh of relief was breathed by many in the EU institutions in Brussels. While some of what went wrong in the first half of 2009 might be attributed to extenuating circumstances, it is still useful to examine the Czech experience to extract any lessons to be learned, especially for the sake of other small and new member states presidencies in the future.