Related articles

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has stressed that the Czech Republic will preside the EU presidency in the first half of 2009 as planned, irrespective of the EU's Reform Treaty agreed at a summit in Lisbon on Thursday. The prime minister made the statement despite the fact that the new treaty - if ratified by member states - will come into force on January 1st, 2009. The treaty includes the creation of a new longer-term president of the European Council, meaning the Czechs could lose the opportunity to preside a "full-fledged" presidency. But the Czech prime minister made clear it was evident there will be delays in the naming of officials to new EU posts, meaning the Czech presidency will not be diminished.

The Czech Republic is considering boycotting an EU-Africa summit due to the expected presence of the controversial president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, Lidove noviny reported. The United Kingdom is so far the only European Union state which has announced plans to boycott the conference, due to take place in Portugal in December. Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra described Mr Mugabe as a "dictator with a capital D". He said Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek might stay away from the summit, in which case the Czech Republic would only send a low-level delegation.

The Czech Republic has signed on to three of what are called operational programmes with the European Commission. Vladimir Spidla, the Czech European commissioner for social affairs, said the programmes allow the Czech Republic to draw over CZK 100 billion from the EU's 2007-2013 budget, of which CZK 2 billion could arrive this year. The programmes signed on Tuesday are Education for Competitiveness, Prague Adaptability and Human Resources and Employment. However, they are the only operational programmes the country has signed out of a total of 24 - the worst score among all new EU states.

The Czech Republic has come joint eighteenth, alongside Hungary, in an EU integration index released on Monday. The index judged 25 EU member states (but not Bulgaria and Romania), alongside Norway, Switzerland and Canada, on how well they catered for and integrated immigrants into their society. The Czech Republic came in with a score slightly below average, gaining 48 points out of 100 overall, with the average being 54. The Czech Republic was identified as lagging behind in two key areas in particular - it was deemed particularly difficult to get a long-term residency permit in the Czech Republic, and the country scored second-worst when it came to protecting immigrants against discrimination. Top of the index was Sweden, with 88 points.

Smoked meats have for years been a favourite part of the Czech diet, and the varieties and producers are numerous. But if producers of cold meat in Slovakia have their way, Czech manufacturers of famous foodstuffs like "Lovecky salam" (a type of salami) and Spekacky (much-loved campfire sausages) could soon be facing a stark choice: change your methods, or change the names of your products. Slovak manufacturers, following new regulations on foodstuffs within the European Union, have sent an application to Brussels to have nine types of cold meat

On Thursday afternoon, a new centre for the Czech Republic, known as the Czech House, opens its doors to the public in Brussels. It will become the address of the Czech embassy, the Czech Centre as well as a number of national companies and institutions. Its main aim is to promote the Czech Republic before it takes on the EU presidency in 2009. I spoke to the head of the Czech Centre in Brussels, Petr Polivka, just a few hours before the start of the event and he agreed to answer a few questions related to the centre's new address:

The EC has advised the Czech Republic to work on cutting its public spending deficit to below one percent of the GDP by 2012. In its annual report on member states finances the EC says that a gradual reduction of the Czech Republic's steep budget deficit is essential for paving the way to the adoption of the single currency. It has recommended a budget deficit below three percent of the GDP in 2008. The centre-right Czech government says that this is a realistic target. However the country has had problems fulfilling its commitments in the past. This year's budget deficit is expected to be around 3.6 percent of the GDP although the country had pledged not to exceed 3.3 percent.

The European Commission has warned EU members who joined the alliance in 2004 that they stand to lose the funds reserved for them in the block's joint budget because they are not accessing the money quickly enough. Altogether the ten states concerned have barely used up half of the money reserved for their research and development projects. The Czech Republic is one of the worst in this respect. In the course of this year it has failed to get a single grant application approved, and there is a very real threat that millions of badly needed euros

Former deputy local development minister Petr Forman has rejected accusations of EU funds fraud during his time in office. The former deputy minister and nine other people have been charged with taking over a government agency created to funnel EU funds with the sole target of acquiring the cash in its account. The state prosecutor in the case said that by paying one million crowns for the agency the accused had gained access to 144 million crowns then in the account. The accused, who face jail sentences of between five and twelve years, have all pleaded not guilty.

The Czech capital Prague, Brno, south Moravia and Olomouc and Ostrava in north Moravia, are all likely to see informal meetings between EU ministers during the Czech presidency of the EU in 2009. The information was released by the office of the government on Wednesday. Of 11 scheduled informal meetings of EU ministers, seven are to take place in regions and the remaining four in Prague. The deputy prime minister in charge of European Affairs, Alexandr Vondra, discussed the regions' roles in the Czech EU presidency with representatives of the Czech Association of Regions on Wednesday. A final decision on the chosen sites is to be made on October 10th.