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The ten countries set to join the European Union in May this year will receive a little under six billion Euros (about 7.8 billion US dollars) from the European Union to serve as rural development aid. Out of the ten future member states, the Czech Republic is to be one of the main beneficiaries, promised 542 million euros. The money compensates the low aid in the form of direct payments to farmers. A spokesman for the European Commission said on Wednesday, the sum is to cover the 2004-2006 periods and is meant for "targeted and tailor-made rural development programmes".

During its session on Wednesday, the government also approved an accession protocol by which the Czech Police Force will become part of the Europol Convention (the EU's police office), when the Czech Republic joins the European Union along with Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia, in May.

The return of two Czech drug mules from Thai prisons to see out their sentences in Czech jails receives a lot of attention in Tuesday's dailies, as does the ongoing search for a Czech European commissioner. LIDOVE NOVINY reports that most of the governing Social Democrats' potential candidates lack the language requirements for the job.

There are just over two weeks to go before Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has to send a letter to European Commission President Romano Prodi saying who should become the Czech Republic's first EU Commissioner. However the prime minister has his work cut out for him, due to the complex set of criteria involved.

The State Veterinary Institute announced Friday that over 500 food processing plants were shut down in the Czech Republic at the end of 2003. The closures of the plants were due to food safety and hygiene standards failing to meet European Union regulations.

Over 500 food processing plants in the Czech Republic have been closed down for failing to comply with EU regulations. The facilities, mainly beef, poultry, egg, fish and milk processing plants, failed to meet strict hygiene standards and other rules adopted by the Czech government ahead of the country's entry into the EU in May. The EU had issued several warnings that this would happen if EU norms were not met, but many producers failed to comply arguing that they lacked the finances needed.

As the Czech Republic gears up for EU accession, there has been much discussion in the media regarding the structural funds the country hopes to receive from the European Union. As a result, many people might be surprised to learn that the Czech Republic is also itself an active donor of foreign aid for less developed countries. This week, the Czech Association for International Affairs held a public discussion in Prague on whether this development aid has been effective.

The bad weather makes the front pages, although what's bad for some is not necessarily bad for others. MLADA FRONTA DNES shows a man cross-country skiing along the tram tracks in Prague's Bila Hora district, while LIDOVE NOVINY has a photo of someone snowboarding on Petrin Hill, with a snow-topped Prague Castle behind him.

There are a variety of stories on Wednesday's front pages, though both PRAVO and MLADA FRONTA DNES lead with Vaclav Havel's early return from Asia. The former president was due to spend three weeks there, but had to abandon the trip after just three days due to breathing problems. Another name in the news is Czech cross-country skier Katerina Neumannova: several papers carry photos of Ms Neumannova, who on Tuesday won her second World Cup race in a row, just six months after having a baby.

Rob Cameron's guest in this week's One on One is EU conference interpreter Roderick Jones. Roderick's been translating and interpreting for twenty years. Currently he's based in Prague, where he's co-ordinating a team of translators working on a raft of documents that have to be translated by May 1st 2004, when the Czech Republic joins the European Union.