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Life in the Czech Republic is two-fifths cheaper than the average in the European Union, according to a price comparison for 2014 published in the magazine Statistika&My. In that year prices in the Czech Republic were at 59.4 percent of the EU average; this was lower than in countries such as Slovakia and Croatia and placed the Czech Republic in the six members of the bloc with the cheapest prices. However, economist David Marek told the Czech News Agency that local prices are likely to approach the EU average in the long-term.

A two-day summit chaired by European Council President Donald Tusk began in Brussels on Thursday, with European leaders embarking on a fresh round of negotiations with Turkey on a stalled plan designed to tackle the ongoing migrant crisis. In its recommendations to the Czech cabinet issued on the eve of the summit, the Senate called for a rejection of the current EU-Turkey agreement until a clear signal was sent to migrants that the days of an “open-door policy” were over.

Trust in the European Union and the European Parliament by Czechs has dropped to a record low, according to a new poll released by the STEM agency. The survey suggests that just 29 percent of Czechs have confidence in the union and just 24 percent in the European Parliament; some 55 percent are favourable towards the United Nations and 52 percent towards NATO. STEM has gauged Czech ties to the European Union since 1994; then, the numbers were between 50 to 60 percent.

The Greek authorities have repeatedly refused the Czech liaison officer for migrants access to the hotspots where they are being registered, the news site Novinky.cz reported on Saturday. The news was confirmed by Interior Minister Milan Chovanec who said other countries’ officers had been granted access to the sites. He said this presented a serious problem since the Czech Republic was due to take in the first 20 migrants from Greece in the coming weeks. The country has agreed take in over 2,600 migrants from Greece and Italy in the course of this and next year. Novinky says the Czech Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over this development as well and Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek is to discuss the matter with his Greek counterpart at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels next week.

The opposition parties TOP 09 and the Civic Democrats want to propose an extraordinary session of Parliament to debate the ongoing EU investigation into the drawing of funds for the Stork’s Nest farm and conference centre of ANO leader and Finance Minister Andrej Babiš. According to the news site Neovlivni.cz fines of 6.0 million crowns were imposed on the farm in the past. The circumstances of EU funds awarded to the project are now being investigated by EU anti-fraud authorities. The company has denied it was asked to pay any penalty.

Czech authorities have found discrepancies in the drawing of funds for the Stork’s Nest farm and conference centre of ANO leader and minister of finance Andrej Babiš with fines of 6.0 million crowns at one stage imposed, the server Neovlivni.cz wrote on Wednesday. The circumstances of EU funds awarded to the project are now being investigated by EU anti-fraud authorities. Babiš and his massive Agrofert agro-chemical group have until now maintained that Czech authorities had no misgivings about the funding of the centre.The company denied again on Wednesday it was asked to pay any penalty.

An EU funding programme named Milky Way will make it easier for Czech dairy farms to export milk and milk products to Arab countries. According to a report by public broadcaster Czech Radio, dairy farms stand to receive funding of 140 million crowns.

The Czech construction sector is a symbol of the country’s economic resurgence just as it was of the years of recession after the financial crisis of 2008. Last year the sector expanded by 5.5 percent compared with 2014 and the number of new contracts climbed by 3.7 percent with the number of building permits also up.

The Czech Republic is prepared to take in Syrian refugees directly from Turkey, the prime minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, said on Tuesday. This would partially fulfil the country’s existing quota under a European Union scheme relocating asylum seekers around the 28-member bloc. Mr. Sobotka – who defended a new EU deal with Turkey aimed at easing the migration crisis – rejected any increase in the Czech Republic’s quota and said the transfers of Syrians from Turkey would only be a temporary measure. Speaking in the lower house, he said the Balkan migration route had been closed and that NATO monitoring had begun in the Aegean Sea, adding that the problem of Greece now needed to be resolved.

After late-night negotiations in Brussels the EU on Tuesday announced it had reached a deal with Turkey on a bold plan to stem the massive influx of refugees into Europe. The Czech Republic, together with the vast majority of EU member states, welcomed the deal as a potential breakthrough in Europe’s deepening migrant crisis.