Related articles

Agriculture Minister Jaroslav Palas, who's accompanying Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla on a visit to Denmark, has said the Czech government should guarantee Czech farmers their situation will not worsen after the country joins the European Union. Mr Palas has been trying to negotiate better terms for Czech farmers with EU agriculture ministers. He has described the talks as tough but he has also said the Czech Republic won't give up efforts to negotiate the best possible terms within the EU.

The Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla, who is on a working visit to Denmark has asked the country, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, for fair treatment. During talks with his Danish counterpart , Prime Minister Anders Rasmussen, Mr. Spidla said that the enormous flood damage which his country sustained would not delay it on the road to EU accession – but that unfair treatment might. "We will strive for early accession, but not at any price" the Czech Prime Minister told Danish members of Parliament. As accession talks progress, the Czech coalition government is under growing pressure from the opposition to defend Czech national interests, especially in the sphere of agriculture. The government likewise fears that if Czechs are not convinced they will be treated "on equal terms" with other EU member states, the Czech referendum on EU membership could produce a negative result.

Coming up on Insight Central Europe this week - Poland's arch-conservative Radio Maria is told to be more EU-friendly, as the Catholic Church warms to EU integration. The EU itself enters a political minefield, as the date for closing accession talks looms. The Austrian and Czech presidents hope post-flood solidarity will lead to progress in bilateral disputes. And in Slovakia, priests are being drafted in to help raise morale in the country's demoralised police force. All that in more in this week's programme.

The Czech Republic has still to pass thirty European laws and a law on referendum, Justice Minister Pavel Rychetsky said on Friday. The Czech Republic is the only of the ten EU candidate countries not to have a referendum law despite the fact that the fifteen European Union members are likely to decide on the Union's enlargement at the Copenhagen summit in December and the accession treaty might be ready by January next year. Mr Rychetsky said the devastating floods had halted the normal activities of the government. The referendum bill has already been passed by the lower house and has yet to be approved by the Senate. Mr Rychetsky said, however, that differences in opinion between the two parliamentary houses were complicating the matter. The Senate is planning to submit its own bill on a one-off EU accession referendum.

The European Parliament has passed a majority of resolutions allowing the European Union to release 1 billion euros in post-flood aid to countries Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. The parliament asked the European Commission to set-up a European Fund that would be used to help repair the devastation from floods that hit Central Europe in August. Thursday's resolution states that the billion euros needed would be released immediately, and would be taken from left-over funds from the 2002 European Union budget. The resolution also welcomed plans by European investment banks to provide cheap loans to help companies afflicted by the floods as well as to help repair damaged infrastructures.

The Foreign Ministers of all fifteen European Union member countries have approved the establishment of a special disaster relief fund. Finances from the fund will be available to both member and candidate countries. The Czech Republic too, is expected to be entitled to resources from the fund, which should help the country in recovering from this year's devastating floods.

The Foreign Ministers of all fifteen European Union member countries have approved the establishment of a special disaster relief fund. Finances from the fund will be available to both member and candidate countries. The Czech Republic too, is expected to be entitled to resources from the fund which should help the country in recovering from this year's devastating floods.

The European Union's Commissioner for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen, gave the Czech government reasons to be satisfied on Thursday, when he said that to all intents and purposes the EU already considered the Czech Republic an EU member. The main reason for his brief visit to the country on Thursday was to look at the damage caused by the recent catastrophic floods, and to offer EU support. Radio Prague's David Vaughan joined Mr Verheugen as he visited one of the most devastated parts of old Prague.

Later on Thursday Guenter Verheugen also met the Czech Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda for talks on the Czech Republic's preparations for EU accession proposed for 2004. Stating the current EU's financial assistance as an example, Mr Svoboda said the Czech Republic would benefit from its membership in the Union. He also said the aid would have been bigger if the country were already a member. The European Union intends to establish a fund aimed at helping member states to overcome natural disasters. By the end of this year 500 million euro will be available in the fund for the flooded countries of Austria and Germany but also for the Czech Republic.