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Last year the Czech Republic drew nearly CZK 152 billion more from the European Union than it paid into the bloc, according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. It was the highest such gap since the country joined the EU in May 2004. The Czech Republic drew a total of CZK 157 billion from the union’s Structural and Cohesion Funds, as well as receiving CZK 31 billion under the Common Agricultural Policy. Since its accession the Czech Republic has contributed CZK 429 billion to the EU’s coffers and received CZK 990 billion.

The Czech government on Monday discussed the terms of a deal demanded by Britain on reform of the European Union. On the key issue of withholding some benefits to workers from other EU countries, the Czech government is arguing that such a move only be applied to newly arrived workers and not those already living in Britain. As part of a proposed deal unveiled last week by European Council president Donald Tusk, Britain would be allowed to limit work related benefits if the influx of workers put too much pressure on its system. Czech State Secretary for European Affairs Tomáš Prouza said Prague’s final position will be hammered out with its Visegrad regional partners ahead of a summit next week on the reforms.

Chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk is expected to visit Prague on February 16 to discuss with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka over the conditions for an agreement with Britain over its demands for a reformed European Union. Tusk unveiled the contents of a draft deal on Tuesday, including a brake allowing London to limit the number of immigrants from other EU countries. Many of the details though have still to be filled in.

The Czech government has decided not to include a stretch of the Elbe valley in northern Bohemia in a listing of EU designated nature protection sites, according to the daily Lidové Noviny. It said that the Czech Confederation of Industry and the local regional council has both lobbied hard to keep the area off the list because of worries it might impede economic development. Environmentalists have warned that Brussels could launch an infringement procedure against the Czech Republic about the decision itself and the five years required to take it.

The European Commission expects Czech economic growth this year to slow down considerable to around 2.3 percent from an expected 4.5 percent in 2015. The latest figures were released in the Commission’s winter economic prognosis. Growth in 2017 is expected to climb slightly to 2.7 percent. One of the factors curbing Czech growth is lower pumping of EU cash at the start of a new funding period.

Czech Secretary of State for European Affairs Tomáš Prouza kicked off an all day conference last week about the benefits and risks of adopting the single currency euro.

After a long time on the back burner, the question of euro adoption seems to be making a comeback in the Czech Republic. Champions of the idea are now pointing out that the country fulfills nearly all the criteria for joining the euro-zone and the timing could hardly be better.

Costs of introducing the euro in the Czech Republic would reach some 0.5 percent of GDP and payments to the European Stability Mechanism would reach 34 billion crowns, the State Secretary for European Affairs Tomáš Prouza said at a conference on euro adoption on Friday. The state secretary stressed that the Czech Republic was economically prepared for the euro´s introduction and fulfilled euro-zone entry criteria much better than 11 years ago. A day earlier, the European Commissioner for the Euro and Social Dialogue Valdis Dombrovskis also said that the Czech Republic was prepared from an economic standpoint to adopt the euro, suggesting the country's entry to the euro zone was now mainly an issue of political will. One of the government´s priorities this year will be to intensify the public debate on euro adoption.

Adopting the euro would cost the Czech Republic around half a percent of gross domestic product, the state secretary for European Affairs, Tomáš Prouza, said on Friday.

Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka says the Czech Republic needs more time to prepare for euro adoption. Speaking at a press briefing in Prague Mr. Sobotka said it would be wrong to set a target date for euro adoption before the country improved its public financing and raised Czech living standards. We still have a deficit in public finances, a high unemployment rate in some regions and a big difference in average income when compared to countries such as Germany or Austria, the prime minister noted. The Sobotka government has repeatedly declared that it would not set a target date for euro adoption during its term in office.