The Political Task of a Handicapped Presidency: The Global Economic Crisis will Without a Doubt Transform the Political Context of the Czech Presidency (The CZECH EU Presidency‪)‬

With the slogan "Europe without barriers," the Czech European Union presidency commenced on the first of January and will continue through the end of June 2009. This slogan and the agenda it carries were, however, born before the world economic crisis. Now, in its midst, the crisis will without a doubt transform the political context of the Czech presidency. As the new leaders of the EU, it is likely that the Czechs will have to rely on improvisation as the daily array of new challenges crop up out of this present sickly state of international affairs. The question remains, how will the Czech Republic deal with these challenges?