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European Union President Herman Van Rompuy will visit the Czech Republic on February 23. He is due to meet with Prime Minister Petr Nečas and also meet President Václav Klaus. Van Rompuy visited Prague last year to introduce himself to Czech politicians after his election in late 2009. Klaus is known for his Euro-sceptical opinions and he was one of the staunchest opponents of the Lisbon treaty that introduces the post of a long-term and full-time president of the European Council. After their meeting last year, Klaus said their opinions on the EU’s functioning completely differed. The EU is now feverishly discussing a German-French proposal for a competitiveness pact or a mechanism for a euro zone rescue package destined for the euro zone countries that may run into economic problems.

The European Commission has threatened to file a complaint against the Czech Republic and fine it for its failure to have flood prevention legislation enshrined in its law. The Environment Ministry said the warning came as it was about to fulfil Brussels’ demands with new legislation to be ready on Thursday. Neighbouring Austria is facing the same problem. According to the Commission statement, neither Prague nor Vienna had informed Brussels about the full adoption of EU standards as demanded by EU rules. The spokesman for the Czech ministry said its regulation would take effect on March 4, 2011.

Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek will advise the Czech government against making a commitment to contribute to the European Stability Mechanism intended to help EU member states overcome severe financial difficulties. On his return from a summit of finance ministers in Brussels, Mr. Kalousek said he was sceptical about how such a fund would be operated, since the burden of contributing to it would be so heavy for a third of eurozone members that, having made it, they would immediately have to request financial assistance from the EU. Euro-zone finance ministers on Monday agreed that a permanent rescue mechanism should be set up in 2013 to the tune of 500 billion euros ($675 billion) which is a sum significantly higher than the current rescue fund. Apart from the euro zone, the ESM would also get cash from the International Monetary Fund and, possibly, from voluntary contributions from non-euro zone European Union countries.

Former Czech president Vaclav Havel has called on the international community to step up pressure on Burma with respect to continuing human rights violations in the country. At a conference on Burma in Prague, Mr. Havel said human rights are a universal value and respect for them should be demanded more strictly in the era of globalisation. He expressed disappointment with the fact that many countries still put economic and technological cooperation over human rights issues. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said a concerted international effort was needed to get Burma to respect human rights and that the Czech Republic would push for a stronger statement from the EU.

Central European leaders of the Visegrad group met for a summit in Bratislava on Tuesday marking the 20th anniversary since the founding of the loose economic alliance which has helped its members make the transition to a market economy and become fully fledged EU members. Government heads from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland, debated bilateral relations, EU energy security, economic governance and the 27-member bloc's public debt crisis. The summit also hosted German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and Ukraine's Prime Minister Mykola Azarov. The four ex-communist Visegrad states joined the EU in 2004. Since 2009, Slovakia is the sole eurozone member in the group.

The Czech Office for the Protection of Personal Data is opposed to a proposal by the European Commission that would oblige air carriers to provide EU member states with data on their passengers, the news agency ČTK reported on Thursday. A spokeswoman for the Czech watchdog said colleting data on air travellers entering or departing the EU made little sense since potential terrorists can use other means of transpor, such as train or car.

The proposal, tabled by the European Commission earlier this week, is aimed at lowering the risk of terrorist attacks. Air carriers would have to provide their passengers’ e-mail addresses, phone numbers, as well as details on their luggage and credit cards.

Prague was one of the targets of a European-wide crackdown on human traffickers. The five country clampdown covered France, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain as well as the Czech Republic. Two people out of the 35 detained in total were in the Czech Republic. The action was mounted by the Europe-wide police coordinator, Europol, on Tuesday with the main target of the action a ring smuggling Vietnamese into Europe. One route for the illegal immigrants was through the use of visas given by Czech authorities in Vietnam. Another, cheaper, route was through Moscow using false documents.

President Klaus also told reporters on Tuesday that the European Union should get involved in Macedonia's dispute with Greece over its official name. Speaking after his meeting with Macedonian President Dorde Ivanov, Mr Klaus said he understands Macedonia’s interest in acceding to the EU and that Greece should not oppose it. He said he warned his Balkan counterpart that acceding to the EU meant entering a complex institution rather than a paradise, but allowed that it was crucial for Macedonia´s future. Greece is opposed to Macedonia using the name ‘Republic of Macedonia’, saying this name refers exclusively to a region in northern Greece. It insists that Skopje use the name Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, under which it is also registered with the United Nations.

Former prime minister Jan Fischer, who led a caretaker government halfway through the Czech EU presidency in 2009, has said he would “definitely run” for the post of Czech president in 2013 if the country’s politicians succeed in introducing direct presidential elections. Mr Fischer, currently Vice President for Operational Policies at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), made the statement speaking to Parlamentní listy in Prague on Monday. Current President Václav Klaus’ second and final term ends in 2013. As prime minister, Mr Fischer enjoyed highly favourable numbers among the public, polls repeatedly suggested. The current government is presently working on a proposal to change the presidential election system, a move also being sought by the opposition Social Democrats. Negotiations on the issue, however, could well prove difficult, given differences on voting methods as well as over potential changes to presidential powers. Currently the country’s president is elected every five years in a joint session of both houses of Parliament.

President Vaclav Klaus is meeting with Prime Minister Petr Nečas and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg on Thursday for foreign policy consultations ahead of Friday’s EU summit in Brussels. The summit is to debate reopening the Lisbon treaty to include a new financial aid mechanism for ailing member states. The Czech government was to have debated the country’s stand to the proposed aid mechanism at its regular session on Wednesday but postponed its decision in view of consultations with the president. An amendment to the Lisbon Treaty would not only have to be approved by the Czech Parliament but signed by President Vaclav Klaus.