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The committee for EU affairs in the Czech lower house will discuss the nomination of Věra Jourová for another term as the Czech EU commissioner on Tuesday, August 20, the ctk news agency reported.

The Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, already informed the incoming president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen about the government’s choice and the lower house is expected to give its final stamp of approval.

Jourová’s nomination has won broad support both from the government and opposition parties. Prime Minister Babiš is hoping that her experience will increase the country’s chances of getting a more ambitious portfolio, such as the internal market or digitalization.

After weeks of speculation regarding the Czech Republic’s nominee for European commissioner, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš arrived for talks with European Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen with a single name in his briefcase: Věra Jourová, the current commissioner for justice, consumer protection and gender equality. The prime minister is hoping that her experience could help the country acquire a more ambitious portfolio.

The Ministry for Regional Development will ask the European Commission to extend its deadline for replying to a draft report on Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s (ANO) alleged conflicts of interest when drawing EU funds.

The EU Commission's preliminary audit found Mr. Babiš to be in conflict of interest in connection his subsidies dispersed to the Agrofert conglomerate that he founded and was compelled under Czech law to place in a trust.

Brussels had set a deadline of 30 days to reply following the receipt of the Czech-language version of the draft, which the Ministry received last week. It received the English-language version in late May.

The election of Ursula von der Leyen as the new president of the European Commission has elicited both enthusiastic and sceptical reactions from Czech MEP, who were divided in the vote according to party lines. Those in favour of her election highlight her understanding of Central and Eastern Europe, those against point to her weak mandate.

The Czech Republic is likely to push for the post of new digital economy commissioner, Lidové Noviny reports, citing a source close to the prime minister. The reserve option is the position of commissioner for the internal market. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has not yet commented on what position the Czech Republic will try to secure. However, he tweeted on Friday that he has spoken to the future commission president Ursula von der Leyen and told her his government’s preferred portfolio, while stressing the need for adequate Visegrad Four representation.

The European Parliament elected its leadership on Wednesday and two Czech MEPs – Dita Charanzová from the Liberals group and Marcel Kolaja from the Greens –were elected vice-president. I asked Libor Rouček, himself a former vice-president of the European Parliament, whether he considers this a significant success for a country the size of the Czech Republic.

Two Czech MEPs have been elected deputy chairpersons of the European parliament. Dita Charanzová (44) of the ANO party is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe political group. Before being elected to the European Parliament in 2014 as an independent, she worked in the Czech diplomatic service for over a decade. In the past election term, she was a deputy chairwoman of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.

Marcel Kolaja is a newcomer to the European Parliament, serving as an MEP for the Pirate Party since the 2019 election. Mr. Kolaja, who is 39, is a computer expert working with free software and the copyright and is a member of the Greens group. As an MEP, he wants to focus on the digital agenda, IT and consumer rights.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has hailed the EU compromise on nominations for the bloc’s top jobs as a big success for the Visegrad Four grouping which fiercely opposed the system of Spitzen candidates and particularly the candidacy of Frans Timmermans for EC president. But, while the prime minister is cheering, there have been mixed reactions from Czech MEPs, some of whom have criticized the fact that the deal reached does not reflect the outcome of elections to the European Parliament.

After failing to reach a decision during over 18 hours of talks on Sunday and Monday, EU leaders are reconvening in Brussels to try to agree who should lead the bloc’s institutions for the coming five years. Dutch socialist Frans Timmermans, a frontrunner for European Commission president, faces strong opposition from the Czech Republic and fellow Visegrad Four states.

The presence of so-called dual quality food in European stores was confirmed this week, when the results of a European Commission study showed that the labelling on 31 percent of analysed products was either fully or partly misleading. What is more, it seems dual quality is not just a problem in Central and Eastern Europe, but across the whole union.