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In business news this week: management and trade unions at Skoda Mlada Boleslav resolve long-standing pay dispute. The state-controlled Czech airline CSA reports another rise in passenger traffic in the first quarter and, the world-famous fashion brand Giorgio Armani may have its suits made at Czech clothing producer OP Prostejov.

Scientific evidence that climate change is caused by human activity has boosted ongoing efforts to address the problem. Now the focus is primarily on what will happen after 2012 when the validity of the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty designed to limit global greenhouse gas emissions, expires. Last week representatives of the EU, the World Bank and the new EU member states met in Prague to discuss the challenges ahead.

The environment was high on the agenda during a short visit to Prague by British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott. He launched a youth forum on climate change, and also discussed the subject with Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and Foreign Minister Alexandr Vondra. Other issues discussed included the Czech Republic's presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2009. Mr Prescott spoke briefly to the media on Wednesday, and was first asked whether he was aware of Czech President Vaclav Klaus's skepticism as to whether mankind is

The European Commission has fined the Czech Republic 12.3 million euros (close to 350 million crowns and 16.4 million US dollars). The fine was given because Czech traders stocked up on meat, fruit, and rice before EU entry in order to sell them at a higher price once the country joined the Union. Prague was among eight other EU members that were penalised but only Poland received a higher fine. The countries have four years to pay the money.

Anyone who's been to Moravia will most probably have sampled a glass of slivovice, the potent clear spirit usually made from plums, which is synonymous with the region and which the local inhabitants are extremely proud of. Although many Moravians distill their own slivovice, there are also a handful of Czech firms who sell it on the Czech market, but this might be about to change. A new proposed regulation before the European Parliament could mean that these distilleries might not be able to call their product slivovice in the future.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has urged European Union member states to debate US plans to install part of its missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland. Speaking in the European Parliament on Thursday, Mr Solana said it was ultimately up to EU capitals to decide whether they joined the United States in the project but they were obliged to ensure that any such participation did not undermine overall security policy in the EU. The US plans to site a missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland sparked a fierce debate among MEPs on Thursday, highlighting the risk of an EU rift over the project.

Parts of the anti-missile shield are already in place in the United States, Britain and Greenland, and Pentagon officials say the plan is to have the system operational by 2013. Washington acknowledges that the system primarily protects US soil from attack by "rogue states" like Iran but that it would also shield some, though not all, European allies.

This week the European Commission said it was going to cut substantially the Czech Republic's greenhouse gas emissions quota. The news has the Czech industrial sector up in arms, and there have been reports electricity bills will rise. The government is now considering whether to fight the decision in a European court. But does the Czech Republic really need a higher quota?

Anyone who's lived in the Czech Republic or even seen the recent Jan Sverak film "Vratne Lahve" or "Returnable Bottles" will probably have got the impression that Czechs are inveterate recyclers, a legacy perhaps of the communist era when resources were short and nothing was wasted. It seems that even in this age of mass consumption, Czechs are still reluctant to simply throw stuff away, not least when it comes to things like plastic bottles.

Germany, which currently holds the EU presidency, has won the consent of all twenty seven EU member states for the text of its so-called Declaration of Berlin, which is intended to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Treaty of Rome - the document that paved the way for the establishment of the European Union. Despite initial reservations, the Czech Republic agreed to the Berlin declaration after German chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Czech president Vaclav Klaus and prime minister Mirek Topolanek. A spokesman for the government said that it had seen the text of the document and believed it was purely symbolic in nature. He also added that the declaration makes no reference to the controversial European constitution. Mr Topolanek had earlier criticised the fact that the Czech Republic only received the text shortly before it was due to be ratified.

According to a new poll, three out of every four Czechs doubt whether their country can attain the same standard of living enjoyed in western European countries within ten years. The survey conducted by the STEM research agency found that forty three percent of respondents don't believe the Czech Republic will reach Western living standards in less than 10 years. A further thirty one percent think the country will never reach these standards. This is a sharp increase from the seventeen percent recorded by STEM in a similar poll conducted in 2003.