Though the European Comission Declared that it has full trust that the national constitutional law allows for the Czech Republic to continue conducting the Council Presidency as effectively as it has done until now, at the EU parliament - there was great concern at the turn of events, particularly on how it will affect the process of ratifying the European Union's reforming Lisbon Treaty.
In practical terms there need not be any great change as Topolanek's government could stay in place until the EU presidency is handed over to Sweden in July.
However EU parliamentarians also saw the defeat of the government in Prague as a blow to the process of ratifying the Lisbon Treaty, not least as the Czechs are yet to fully ratify the text themselves.
On top of that, eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus has refused to confirm whether he would ratify the text even if parliament does back it.
If a eurosceptic government is elected it may help make his mind up.
It is not the first time that a government holding the European Union's rotating six-month presidency has fallen.
The last time such a situation arose was in the first half of 1996 when Italy's centre-left coalition under Romano Prodi took over from Lamberto Dini's centre-right government following a legislative election.
Author: Ksenia Kochneva
