"Membership in the European Union vs. Fear of German Domination. A Czech Perspective"

Cernoch, Pavel. (2000) "Membership in the European Union vs. Fear of German Domination. A Czech Perspective". In European Political-economy Infrastructure Consortium (EPIC) > Ionian Conference 2000 - Challenges of the New Millenium, Corfu, 20-22 May, 2000 > Theme: Governance and citizenship in the European Union - the influence of culture, pages 3, Corfu, Greece.

Abstract

[Thesis]. The long-lasting domination of German culture in Czech history, the expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II and the new dimension of Czech Republic citizenship after 1993 all represent sources for deeply rooted scepticism in Czech society about membership in the European Union. Taking into account the extensive presence of German capital in the Czech Republic, many Czechs are suspicious whether joining the EU will not eventually result in a renewal of German cultural, economic and political domination. This paper tries to argue that if these existing fears are not properly addressed, they may have a detrimental effect on the outcome of an eventual referendum on EU membership and serve as a cheap argument for populist policies against EU membership.