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A summit hosted by the chair of the Czech senate Přemysl Sobotka for European politicians and held on Saturday led those attending to vow to continue and accelerate ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The meeting was organized by Mr Sobotka ahead of the Czech Republic’s assumption of the EU presidency in January 2009. In attendance were representatives from 11 central and eastern-European nations.

The heads of parliament from 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe are set to meet in Prague at the weekend to discuss possibilities to form joint positions on European Commission proposals. It is the first such meeting of its kind and will be held in the Czech senate. Both Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek and the Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra are expected to attend. The head of the Czech senate, Přemysl Sobotka, has suggested that representatives will try to find similar standpoints on issues to be able to push their agenda more effectively at the European level. In the past, closer regional cooperation has been established, for example, through the Visegrad Four, made up of Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Czech arms exporters are preparing a lawsuit against the German government over transit licence permits required by the German authorities for all arms shipments through Germany. Czech exporters are complaining that the authorization – which is often denied – complicates weapon exports approved by the Czech government, and is a relict of the Cold War.

The Czech government has already caused a stir with a recent PR campaign for the country’s forthcoming EU presidency, which starts in January. TV and newspaper adverts suggesting that Europe will be ‘given a taste of its own medicine’ when the Czechs take over have left the international press asking what exactly Prague is trying to say about the political institution it is about to lead. Now, the government has unveiled another of its strategies to publicise the presidency which seems no less controversial. A ‘Totalitarian Circus’ is set to represent

Three weeks ahead of local and Senate elections the Czech political scene is fraught with discord. The Civic Democrats, the strongest party in the Czech governing coalition, has been hard hit by a blackmail and entrapment scandal involving two of its deputies. Last weekend brought another bombshell – the daily Mladá fronta Dnes alleged that two Civic Democrats – rebel deputy Vlastimil Tlustý and Interior Minister Ivan Langer as well as opposition leader Jiří Paroubek of the Social Democrats had in the past been in contact with the mafia, publishing

The Czech Republic is due to take up the rotating EU presidency at the start of 2009 – at a particularly challenging time. The prospects of EU enlargement to include western Balkan countries are a point of controversy with some members fearing instability from the region and others pointing out that until the Lisbon Treaty is in force the EU should not take on more members. Michaela Jelínková from the Government’s Office for European Affairs outlines some of the challenges ahead and explains why the Czech Republic is committed to pushing ahead

During its EU presidency in the first half of 2009, the Czech Republic will be responsible for negotiating Croatia’s entry, Cyprus’ re-unification and Serbia’s candidacy, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said in Prague on Thursday. Mr Rehn said that the ongoing negotiations with Croatia are going well but some of the key issues of the country’s accession to the EU may have to be resolved during the Czech presidency. EU candidacy could possibly be offered to Serbia during the Czech term, and Czech politicians might also take part in resolving the issue of divided Cyprus.

Despite its fast-paced economic growth and strong currency the Czech Republic will most likely be one of the last countries in central Europe to join the eurozone. If Poland meets its target to adopt the common European currency in 2011, all of the Czech Republic’s neighbours will be using the euro in less than two and a half year’s time. The president of the European Commission, Jose Barosso, last week urged the Czech Republic to set a target date for euro adoption, but it seems unlikely that the date will be set this year. I spoke to economist

In Business News this week: Czech business leaders, feeling the squeeze of the strong crown, call for a euro adoption target date – not this year, says the government; Prague Airport is shedding a 10th of its workforce ahead of its planned privatisation; the Czech Republic ranks among the worst states in an international study of how long it takes to deal with taxes; the number of debit and credit cards issued by Czech banks keeps increasing; and two Czech firms rank in the first five in a regional Top 500.

The Christian Democrats have distanced themselves from an official government promotion campaign designed to raise awareness about its impending presidency of the EU. The comments came following a meeting of the party faithful on the subject held on Tuesday. They have now asked their coalition partners to come up with a better idea than the current “We will sweeten Europe” campaign, which features a sugar cube falling into a cup of coffee. The Christian Democrats have also stated that they were not consulted about the campaign. The campaign caused controversy after it was realised that it also had an anti-European connotation because the Czech president Václav Klaus, a prominent Euro-skeptic, had once stated that the country will dissolve like a sugar cube within the EU. The Czech Republic is set to assume the EU presidency in January 2009.