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Ratification of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty crept one step closer to conclusion this week when Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled the documents is compatible with the country’s de facto constitution. Those, however, who think this latest legal clarification has done anything to mollify Lisbon’s opponents would be mistaken – the Czech president Václav Klaus says for him, the German decision changes nothing.

Seven percent of workers in the Czech Republic have undeclared earnings on which they do not pay income tax, according to a study by the EU agency Eurofound. That is two percent higher than the average in the European Union, suggests the study conducted in 2006 and 2007. Sixty-six percent of Czechs who admit to illegal earnings work for family, friends or neighbours, the highest percentage in this category in the EU, the study found.

This Wednesday, Sweden takes over the EU presidency from the Czech Republic, and, as its slogan says, ‘takes on the challenge’. Like the Czechs, the Swedes want to use their presidency, which will run until the end of this year, to focus on the economy and the EU’s relations with its neighbours. As far as priorities are concerned, the Czechs and the Swedes may have been singing from the same hymn sheet, but can the handover itself be described as harmonious? I met Swedish Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Catherine von Heidenstam, to find out. My

Civic Democrat opponents of the Lisbon treaty have said Tuesday’s verdict of the German Constitutional Court has not changed their resolve to lodge a second complaint against the EU’s reform treaty with the Czech Constitutional Court in August. Senators Jiří Oberfalzer and Jiří Pospíšil told the ctk news agency on Tuesday that this time the complaint would relate to the whole treaty, not just some controversial passages. The German Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that the treaty is compatible with German legislation but could not be ratified until new legislation has been put in place to safeguard the powers of the German Parliament. The Czech Parliament has already done this. Czech President Vaclav Klaus, one the staunchest opponents of the treaty who has not yet signed the document, said on Tuesday he had taken note of the German court’s verdict.

The European Union and Turkey agreed on Tuesday to open negotiations on tax reform as part of Ankara's stalled bid for accession to the 27-nation bloc, the Czech EU presidency said on Tuesday. Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout described the agreement as a significant step on Turkey’s path towards the European Union. Turkey will have to align its laws with EU standards on value-added tax and excise duties, and eliminate “discriminatory” levies on alcohol and imported tobacco. Taxation is only the 11th of 35 negotiating chapters that Turkey must complete before it can enter the EU, where many citizens are sceptical about taking in the mainly Muslim state.

This Tuesday is the final day of the Czech Republic’s EU presidency before the country hands over to Sweden on July 1. The six-month presidency has seen the Czechs tackle a global financial crisis, an energy dispute between Russia and Ukraine, a crisis in Gaza, and the toppling of the country’s own government halfway through. So how did they do? That’s what we ask in this week’s Talking Point:

Caretaker Prime Minister Jan Fischer said on Monday that the Czech Republic would hand over the EU presidency to Sweden after fulfilling its agenda. Mr Fischer drew attention to the success of the EU summit this month which lined up leaders behind current EU Commission president José Barroso for another term and thrashed out assurances for Ireland ahead of another referendum of the Lisbon treaty. The Prime Minister also highlighted Czech moves to put relations with non-EU countries in Eastern Europe on a new footing, prioritise energy security and curb the impact of the world economic crisis. Sweden takes over at the helm of the EU from the start of July.

Czechs are on average the 17th poorest citizens of the 27-strong EU according to figures released by its statistics office Eurostat. Czechs come in around a third as wealthy as the EU’s wealthiest citizens, the Luxembourgers, and below the EU average. But they are the second richest citizens of the new member states in Central and Eastern Europe after the Slovenians and are twice as wealthy as the EU’s poorest, the Bulgarians.

Representing the Czech presidency of the European Union, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said in Israel that the EU considered the building of houses in Jewish settlements on the West Bank a serious obstacle to peace in the Middle East. Mr Kohout made the comments after talks with Israeli and Palestinian politicians on Wednesday. He said a recent speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he for the first time acknowledged the right of Palestinians to their own state was a first significant step towards a peaceful solution to the situation in the Middle East.

The Czech presidency of the European Union has called off accession talks with Croatia scheduled for this coming Friday, due to Zagreb’s failure to resolve a border dispute with Slovenia, an EU member. The move is the latest blow to Croatia’s hopes of becoming the next state to join the bloc. Sweden said it had no plans to launch fresh efforts to settle the border dispute, which the EU sees as a bilateral issue, during its presidency.