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The Czech government has called upon Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda, along with Trade and Industry Minister Milan Urban, to appeal to the European Commission on behalf of the Trinec Steelworks. The government would like to see the troubled steelworks receive public funds for needed re-structuralisation. According to Minister Milan Urban the Trinec steelworks should be added to a list of recipient steel companies that include Nova Hut, Vitkovice, and Valcovny Frydek-Mistek. In the minister's view the addition of Trinec to the list would divide EU funds already pledged, which some sources say amount to 150 million euros.

In less than three weeks now Czechs are due to vote in a national referendum on EU accession. The government's campaign to convince them to go to the polls and vote YES is in full swing - but is it having the desired effect?

Agriculture Minster Jaroslav Palas has said the Czech Republic supports European Union Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler's proposals to reform the EU's farm policy. Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Mr Palas added, however, that it was necessary to make clear how the reforms would affect new member countries. The Czech Republic is set to join the EU in May next year, subject to a referendum in three weeks time.

On Friday, a three-day conference on air pollution came to an end in Prague, organised by the European Commission. The conference was the conclusion of a series of joint projects with the candidate countries to study the air pollution related problems in the ten future member states. Dita Asiedu was at the conference and brings back this report:

17 Central European heads of state gathered in Salzburg this week with a very resonant agenda - "Beyond Enlargement - the Future of Central Europe in the larger Europe" was their rallying point. They've been taking stock of the past, sketching out the new, political situation in the heart of the Continent, and discussing developments in Central Europe resulting from EU enlargement. In this week's program, we'll look at some of these developments and hear about the issues that've been dominating the summit.

Some 78 percent of Czechs are likely to vote Yes to joining the EU, according to a poll by the TNS-Factum agency released on Friday. Turnout is expected to exceed 50 percent. Another poll by the STEM agency suggests the biggest worry voters have over EU accession is that prices will rise, with 27 percent expressing that concern. On the positive side, 47 percent of Czechs believe joining the EU will improve the workings of the country's legal system. If the referendum is passed, the country will join the union in May next year.

Next year people in the Czech Republic will pay more to have their hair cut, to have their shoes repaired and to make a telephone call. These are just a few consequences of the biggest change in Czech taxation during the last ten years.

All of today's papers unanimously lead with yesterday's vote of the lower house approving a hike in the value-added tax from five to twenty-two percent as of January next year. MLADA FRONTA DNES reports that this move will increase monthly expenses for every Czech family by several hundred crowns. The rise in VAT will increase the prices of certain services, such as using both mobiles phones and land lines, or the services of lawyers, tax consultants and real-estate agencies.

The Austrian city of Salzburg has never seen anything quite like it. This week presidents from no less than 17 Central and Eastern European countries converged on the city, bringing the ancient city centre to a complete standstill, much to the bemusement of locals and tourists alike. The presidents were continuing a tradition of meetings that began ten years ago in this same city on the initiative of Austrian President Thomas Klestil. As expected, the talks did not see anything new on the key questions of Europe's future, but as David Vaughan reports

The coalition government has decided to join the EU in its fight against poverty and introduce measures that will reduce the number of industrial accidents, government spokeswoman Anna Starkova said on Monday. According to Mrs Starkova, Europe has increasingly been taking steps to prevent the isolation of the socially weak from the rest of society and ensure that employees are safe at their workplace, while Czech rules and regulations have not been adapted to the changes on the work market nor to the demographic development. The government has therefore decided to establish a new committee that will look into the current problem areas and find ways of tackling the main causes.