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The Czech upper house, the Senate, has opposed giving greater nuclear safety supervision powers to the European Commission. Senators took the same stand Wednesday as the Czech government and said that calls for reinforced rules following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan were premature. One change called for is that independent supervisors replace the safety checks made by national authorities. An evaluation of member states compliance with existing safety rules is not due until July this year. Speaking to the Senate, outgoing prime minister Jiří Rusnok said he doubted whether the Czech Republic could win sufficient among other EU states to oppose the Commission proposal.

The imminent change-of-guard in Prague naturally poses questions about the country’s EU role and eventual adoption of the flagship single currency, the euro. Unlike the cautious approach of former center-right governments, the incoming finance minister Andrej Babiš says he has no problem with euro adoption. However, the assurance comes from an astute business magnate who is quick to add that the country is not prepared to guarantee the liabilities of indebted euro users such as Greece or Spain.

The Czech Senate is likely to approve the start of talks on Macedonia’s accession to the EU, the news agency ČTK reported on Saturday. The proposal has been passed by the Senate’s EU affairs committee; Senators are scheduled to vote on the motion next week. The upper chamber of the Czech Parliament is also expected to call for a new dynamics of Turkey’s accession to the 28-member bloc, the agency said.

The Social Democrats are planning to finalize their ballot for European elections by February 8, party leader Bohuslav Sobotka said. The ballot will be headed by leftist sociologist and columnist Jan Keller. Social Democrat leaders said the Czech Republic should become a respected member of the EU, and improve the drawing on EU funds. Voting for the European Parliament is scheduled for May.

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience has suspended the membership of the Czech Institute for the Study of the Totalitarian Regimes. In a letter to the institute’s director, Pavla Francová, the European association of totalitarian research institutes said its Czech associate had been infiltrated by Communist collaborators. The Platform warned it would take the step last November when it criticized the election of five former Communist party members to the institute’s board of experts. The Czech Institute for the Study of the Totalitarian Regimes is one of the founding members of the platform which associates 43 institutes from 13 EU states as well as Ukraine, Moldova, Iceland, Canada and the United States.

The European Commission has stopped around 100 billion crowns in funding reaching the Czech Republic because of worries about the way two programmes have been managed, the daily Dnes reported on Monday. One of the programmes is a nationwide initiative to help companies introduce new innovations. The second, is focused on the Central Bohemian region and persistent worries about corruption and flawed management that have not been cleared up since payment of funds was frozen in mid 2012, the paper said.

The European Commission has put on hold 100 billion crowns earmarked for two Czech operational programmes because of fears they were subject to corruption and insufficient supervision, according to the daily Mladá fronta Dnes. The Commission will not resume payments into the programmes until the Czech authorities revolve the issues.

The Czech Republic has not been the best pupil in the past as regards the pumping of European Union funds. But for future payments the country will have to demonstrate that many gaps in local legislation or capacities to handle the huge cash flows have been dealt with. If not, the EU funds could dry up altogether.

As of this year Czech producers will have to use bigger print and put more information on food labels than they have hereto. The change is in line with EU regulations and there is a fine of up to 10 million crowns for violating it. Some producers have complained that in view of the size of some products they will have to add folded leaflets to them containing the information or restrict the number of language versions on the labels.

In a Christmas message to the nation, President Miloš Zeman reflected on how he had fulfilled his election promises to voters. In a short address broadcast live by Czech public radio and television, Mr. Zeman highlighted five areas in which he had promised action, including improving relations with the EU and stabilizing the situation at the Constitutional Court. The president pointed out that the EU flag was now flying at Prague Castle and the Constitutional Court, which had come close to paralysis for lack of judges, was now complete and functioning. Mr. Zeman said that the most problematic of his promises was that to unite Czech society rather than dividing it, but argued that in preventing the return of a centre-government to office and opening the way for early general elections he had addressed that matter as well. In parting the president wished Czechs health and happiness in the coming year and thanked the outgoing Rusnok government for its work.