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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.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus and the country's Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla have agreed on what they termed a common initiative towards the Czech parliament regarding the upcoming European Union enlargement. The two politicians met on Friday at the presidential chateau at Lany to discuss a number of current issues over lunch. Both officials were accompanied by their wives. After their meeting, Mr Klaus and Mr Spidla said they would like to establish a tradition of annual meetings of the president and the prime minister at the beginning of each year.

The Czech President Vaclav Klaus addressed the nation on Thursday in his first ever New Year's speech as head of state. President Klaus, who was sworn into office last March, choose a somewhat conciliatory tone for his New Year's address. There was the usual ill-concealed aversion to the European Union, but this time it was moderated with some positive words.

January 1st being a holiday -the papers all welcome the New Year in on the morning of January 2nd- highlighting President Klaus' very first New Year's address to the nation, reporting on the New Year celebrations which are said to have been exceptionally boisterous this year and listing all the changes that the new year is expected to bring.

As the Czech Republic stands poised to join the European Union, it could soon be in for a financial windfall, as the country will be entitled to draw on structural funds immediately after accession. Every organisation that wants European financial support has to prepare a detailed project plan. However, many Czech companies do not know how to do this. Consequently, the Ministry for Regional Development has organised a series of seminars to provide information on the official requirements for applying.

The human tragedy in the Iranian city of Bam continues to fill front pages. Bam is turning into a mass grave, says Pravo, reporting that the number of victims is now close to 30 thousand. A miracle in the midst of the rubble, reads the headline in Mlada Fronta Dnes, reporting on the unexpected survival of a six months old baby girl, found cradled in her dead mothers arms.

Christmas is over and the end of the year is quickly approaching. This is a time to recap, to reflect on the past year, to try to anticipate what the coming year will bring and to make New Year's resolutions.

In just over a week's time Ireland takes over the presidency of the European Union. It will be a momentous presidency, culminating on May 1 with the accession of ten new members to the EU, among them of course the Czech Republic. Ahead of the Irish presidency, I travelled across the city to the Irish Embassy in Mala Strana to talk to the Irish ambassador to Prague, Joe Hayes. I began by asking him about his background, and why he had become a diplomat.

In this week's Mailbox: the movement of people/labour after the Czech Republic's accession to the EU, public transport and the Prague Transit Authority. We answer questions from Merryl Jones, Frederick Hunt.

The eastward expansion of the European Union will prove a boon to flourishing organised crime groups, the European police agency Europol said in its annual report on organised crime. With border controls relaxing as the EU grows from 15 to 25 countries next May, Mafia-style groups will use new member states as bases for trafficking drugs and people. The report said powerful crime networks were getting increasingly sophisticated, moving away from the traditional, hierarchical model seen in Mafia movies and towards a cell-based structure that made it harder for police to find the top bosses. It said there were signs international crime groups were moving their activities to the EU newcomers, which were also becoming focal points for money laundering.