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On October 4, an inter-governmental conference which brings together representatives from all fifteen current European Union countries and the ten accession countries was opened in Rome to finalise the EU's draft constitution. One week later, last Friday, parliamentary representatives of four of the countries due to join the EU in May next year, met in Prague to discuss their reservations on the proposed constitution treaty.

The news that former president Vaclav Havel has failed to win this year's Nobel Peace Prize came too late for Friday's papers of course - although several commentators do ponder over Mr Havel's presidential career and falling popularity at home. Also making headlines today - the current president, Vaclav Klaus, invited by Ombudsman Otakar Motejl to explain his recent scathing attack on the institution.

Only three days since the government delegation, led by Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, returned from talks in Italy, and its position on the EU Draft Constitution has come under fire at home. Though hardly surprising - the debate - called for by the opposition Civic Democrats - was something Prime Minister Spidla indicated he would take seriously.

The Chamber of Deputies has been holding a special session to discuss the planned constitution for the European Union, days after an inter-governmental conference on the document began in Rome. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla said on Tuesday that his cabinet would put forward a bill allowing for a referendum on the proposed constitution. Meanwhile, MP Jan Zahradil of the opposition Civic Democrats, which called the debate, said the EU was already functioning well without a constitution. The Czech Republic and nine other countries are to become members of the EU next May.

Leaders of the 25 current and future members of the European Union met in Rome in weekend for the formal start of the so-called inter-governmental conference, or IGC. Over the following weeks and months, the IGC will discuss the controversial blueprint for the future of Europe - the draft EU constitution. The document was painstakingly put together by the Convention on the Future of Europe, a body made up of around 100 national representatives. But do they themselves believe the fruit of their labours will survive the rigours of the IGC? One of

This past Saturday saw the opening of an all important inter-governmental conference in Rome, bringing together leaders from all fifteen current EU countries and ten countries and slated to join in May next year. On the table: a final phase of negotiations aimed at streamlining the EU's draft constitution, a two-hundred plus page document that will outline, once and for all, a new legal and moral framework for the European Union. Already there have been indications this will not be an easy task. Jan Velinger was in Rome at the weekend and he joins

Most Czech papers lead with Saturday's EU summit in Rome. While PRAVO writes that the 25 current and future member states are ready for compromise regarding the burning issue of the European Union constitution and that the summit took place in a friendly atmosphere, LIDOVE NOVINY comments that the very first day of negotiations on the European Union constitution confirmed that the debate on the future of Europe will not go smoothly. The paper goes on to say that the larger countries of the European Union have let the smaller ones know they want

Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has voiced his belief that EU members and candidates will soon be able to finalise the text of the EU constitution. Speeking at Saturday's meeting of representatives of the 15 European Union member states and the ten accession countries in Rome, Mr Spidla cited several points in which the Czech Republic will demand changes to the proposed constitution, as drafted by the European Union Convention. The Czech government expects the inter-governmental conference, which started on Saturday, to provide space for raising especially those issues relating to the balance of European Union institutions, equality of EU members and cohesion of the EU. The Czech Republic wants every country to appoint one full-fledged commissioner even after 2009. Mr Spidla demanded that the rotation of countries at the head of the Council of Ministers be clarified. He spoke in favour of a team rotation chairmanship.

Representatives of the 15 European Union member states and the ten accession countries started talks in Rome on Saturday which should result in the adoption of the European Union Constitution. The Czech delegation is headed by Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla. Saturday's meeting is the official start of the negotiating process, known as an intergovernmental conference, to create a new treaty or constitution for the EU. The aim is to clarify who does what inside the EU and to ready the institutions to deal with a much larger union once 10 new members, including the Czech Republic, join the current 15 EU states next May.

If someone were to ask you to list five national symbols of your country, would you be able to name them? Of course, the most common are the national flag and the national anthem but what else represents your country? I attended a discussion on this topic the other day and realised that the very thing that Czechs have always been known to be proud of - their nation - is losing its defining symbols...