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In Business News this week: a new green card scheme is set to make it easier for foreign workers to fill gaps in the Czech labour market; moves are planned to increase the number of part-time jobs available in the Czech Republic; Prague and Brno get new low-cost air routes; job security comes ahead of career development for most Czech workers, suggests a new survey; the strength of the crown is said to be hitting sales of crystal and costume jewellery; and food, drink and tobacco are still considerably cheaper in the Czech Republic than the EU

The Czech government and sexologists have rejected criticism from the Council of Europe regarding the practise of castrating some sex offenders in this country. The Council's Committee for the Prevention of Torture has criticised the policy of allowing some sex offenders to choose between surgical castration or confinement for life in a psychiatric facility. Leading Czech sexologists have defended the practise, saying that castration is only carried out with the prisoner's consent and that it has drastically reduced re-offending. The Committee for the Prevention of Torture maintains that consent to castration can hardly be considered free if the alternative for the prisoner is indefinite confinement in a psychiatric hospital.

The Czech Republic has filed a suit with the European Union's Court of First Instance in Luxembourg against a decision by the European Commission to impose a 12.3 million euro fine on the Czech Republic for alleged excessive stockpiles of agricultural commodities and food ahead of EU entry. Neighbouring Slovakia contested the European Commission fine for its pre-2004 stockpiles last week. Regardless of the lawsuit, the Czech Republic must pay a proportion of the penalty by the end of July. Besides the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the EC also fined Estonia, Latvia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Malta, Poland and Slovenia for alleged excessive food stockpiles.

Czechs planning to travel around Europe next year will have one thing less to worry about - they will be able to leave their passports at home. The long awaited accession to the Schengen Agreement, which guarantees the citizens of all member countries unrestricted travel, will happen in the first moments of New Year's Day 2008.

The Czech Republic joined the European Union in May 2004, in what was the biggest single enlargement in the alliance's history. Little under a year earlier, in June 2003, 77 percent voted for accession in a referendum. Today, three years after joining the EU, how satisfied are Czechs with membership? That was one of the many questions posed in a comprehensive, twice-annual national survey conducted as part of Eurobarometer and released last week.

The Czech Republic will ask the EU to cover half of the expenses on combating bird flu in eastern Bohemia, Agriculture Minister Petr Gandalovic has said in Brussels. Gandalovic claimed the Czech Republic is entitled to the refund of about CZK 15 million. According to Minister Gandalovic, Czechs will not ask for any more assistance unless European countries start closing their markets for the Czech chicken.

The Council of Europe has raised serious concerns about the use of castration for sex offenders in the Czech Republic, following a visit by the Council's experts to a number of psychiatric facilities. The Council's Committee for the Prevention of Torture has called for greater safeguards to prevent the treatment being wrongly applied.

The Czech Foreign Ministry says it regrets Russia's decision to suspend application of a key arms control pact, the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. In a statement, the Czech Foreign Ministry said Russia's move could threaten security in Europe. Meanwhile, a Czech Defence Ministry spokesperson said Prague would react to Russia's decision as part of NATO, where intense negotiations on the matter can be expected. Moscow has been angered by US plans to build parts of an anti-missile defence shield in central Europe. Washington wants to build a radar base in the Czech Republic and to house missiles in Poland.

The anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe expressed concern over the use of chemical and surgical castrations in the Czech Republic for sex offenders convicted of murder. Following several visits to Czech prisons and psychiatric facilities earlier this year, members of the committee questioned the concept of free and informed consent to castration when prisoners are given a choice between castration and confinement in a psychiatric hospital. Czech authorities claim these procedures are carried out in accordance with the law, but more detailed legislation on the matter is expected to come into focus later this year.

In Business News this week: Czechs now earn 79 percent of the European Union average per capita gross domestic product; the unemployment rate falls slightly to 6.3 percent; as employers complain they cannot find staff, the Labour Ministry says the number of foreigners working legally in the Czech Republic has more than doubled; Czechs are signing up for mortgages in ever increasing numbers; and Czechs are buying more cars - but fewer Skodas.