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Tomáš Prouza will step down as the State Secretary for European Affairs at the end of March. Government spokesman Martin Ayrer confirmed Mr Prouza's resignation on Friday, saying that the official had accepted an offer in the private sector. The media had reported that Mr Prouza lacked proper security clearance; until recently, there was speculation he was a strong favorite to step in as apt he new minster of labor and social affairs.

The leaders of the Visegrad Four have issued a joint statement calling on the European Commission to take action to eliminate double standards in quality of food products sold by companies in Eastern Europe and in the West. Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka and leaders of Poland, Slovakia, and Hungry met in Warsaw on Thursday to make a joint motion on a problem that has plagued all four states for years now. The four leaders are angry that European producers are often selling lower quality foodstuffs under the same label in their countries compared with richer neighbours such as Germany and Austria. Czech Agriculture Minister Marian Jurečka has commissioned a comparative survey in all four states and Austria which would reveal the extent of the problem.

The Czech Republic has made significant progress in tackling corruption and increasing transparency in party financing, according to a report by the Council of Europe Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO). The report says that Prague has now fulfilled 9 of the 13 recommendations it was given by the council but regrets the lack of progress in implementing its recommendations concerning the criminalisation of corruption. These are to accelerate the process of signing and ratifying the Additional Protocol to the Criminal Law Convention on Corruption and to clarify that all public sector employees, in particular those exercising ancillary jobs, fall within the scope of the bribery and trading in influence provisions. GRECO has consistently monitored the situation in the Czech Republic and says the country has made significant progress in the field.

Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec is taking the battle over whether to give Czech firearms holders the right to use their weapon against terrorists to Parliament. Although the proposal was not sanctioned by the government, the minister says he will fight for people’s right to hold a weapon and use it in self-defence even if it goes against present EU policy.

The Czech prime minister appears to have forged a unified front across all parliamentary parties concerning Prague’s priorities when the phoney war stops and the real battle begins over the shape of the deal when Britain leaves the European Union. Defending Czech citizens’ rights in Britain and keeping the doors open to Czech exports are the main goals parties have agreed upon.

Czech MEPs say they will strive to soften a proposed amendment to the EU firearms directive which aims to tighten controls on the legal acquisition and possession of firearms. One cannot fight against the threat of terrorism by banning legally held weapons, MEPs Jiří Pospíšil and Stanislav Polčák told reporters in Prague on Monday. On the other hand they criticized the recent proposal of Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec for Parliament to pass a constitutional amendment which would allow persons with legally held weapons to use them against terrorists. Mr. Pospíšil, a former Czech justice minister, said it would be ideal to find a sensible compromise, and that Czech MEPs would present a proposal at the March session of the European Parliament.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says he plans to rush through changes to the Czech Republic’s law on electronic communications. The move should increase the powers of regulator the Czech Telecommunications Office (CTO) with a view to increasing competition among mobile telephone operators and thus benefiting customers. The bill would also make it easier for customers to switch operators. A particular issue in the Czech Republic is the high cost of mobile data compared to in other states.

Besides beer and cars, one of the biggest Czech exports to Britain over recent years has been students. But Brexit has cast something of a shadow over what is a booming business for the British education sector. As a result, Czechs are making what could be a last ditch bid to sign up for British courses.

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek would back Donald Tusk's re-election as European Council President. Mr. Zaorálek told reporters in Brussels on Monday that Mr. Tusk had his support but he emphasised that the decision was up to the EU countries' presidents and prime ministers. Tusk, former prime minister of Poland, made it clear at the EU summit in Malta on Friday that he would like to continue at the European Council's head. His present mandate will expire in May. "Our communication with Donald Tusk has been smooth, we comprehend his positions," Zaorálek said on behalf of the Czech Foreign Ministry. He said Prague would discuss the issue with its partners, mainly within the Visegrad Four group, which also comprises Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has said that the European Union should in future work to secure the security of its citizens but not erect any barriers to the functioning of the single market. It should also attempt to bridge the gulf in the living standards of those in different countries, he added. Government leaders and heads of state at an EU summit in Malta discussed how a document reformulating and restating the EU’s future should look. Members of the Central European Visegrad group, including the Czech Republic, will work jointly on preparations. Leaders also dealt with the immigration issue and agreed that cooperation with Libya to boost its policing of its coastline and land borders is now more important than ever. While immigration flows through Turkey were down by a third in 2016, those through the so-called Central route targeting Italy still came to around 180,000 last year. Sobotka told journalists that the EU could not expect multilateral treaties from the new US president Donald Trump and should expect increased pressure from Washington to increase their defense spending.