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Petr Mlsna, head of the government’s legislative council, who was nominated for the post of judge of the European Court of Justice has not been approved for the post by the respective EU committee. Mlsna was nominated for the post by the Czech government to replace Judge Irena Pelikánová, whose six-year term in office expires at the end of August. The position will need to be filled in early September. The Nečas cabinet will now have to make a new nomination. A committee of former EU judges evaluates the candidates' legal education, work experience, language proficiency and personality.

Czechs now have a more positive attitude towards the work of the European Union than they did a year ago, suggests a freshly released opinion poll by the STEM agency. Forty-five percent of respondents in the survey, which was conducted last month, said they believed that EU functioned democratically, seven percent more than in a similar poll last year. Meanwhile, 30 percent – compared to 25 percent in 2012 – said they thought the bloc worked effectively.

In an interview for the Austrian weekly Profil, Czech President Miloš Zeman criticized EU’s numerous regulations. The European Union should not regulate light bulbs, smoking and alcohol, Mr Zeman said. The Czech president also voiced his objections to EU’s bailout for Greece and Cyprus, and reiterated that the Czech Republic should soon adopt the euro.

A new study obtained prior to release by the Czech news agency, suggests that in terms of structure psychiatric institutional care in the Czech Republic most resembles systems in the former Soviet Union and the Balkans, setting it apart from current practices in western Europe, where the trend has been towards community care and other support systems. The study was conducted by specialists from the Prague Psychiatric Centre: care across 30 European countries was examined.

In Italy, for example, many mental hospitals were closed or reduced in size. In the Czech Republic similar steps could only be taken following the introduction of alternative systems to prevent the mentally ill from ending up on the street or in prison, specialists suggested. Currently, Czech psychiatry receives 3.5 percent of the annual healthcare budget; that is to be boosted to five percent after reforms are introduced. The European average is eight.

On a working visit to Prague the president of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy said the EU had weathered the worst of economic crisis and the future of the euro was no longer at stake. He said the EU must now focus on jump starting the economy and creating thousands of new jobs in order to secure the return of financial stability. Prime Minister Petr Necas said that, while it was in the Czech Republic’s best interests to help the euro zone’s recovery, Prague was in no hurry to exchange the crown for the euro and such a decision would have to be made on the basis of a national referendum. Mr. Van Rompuy assured his host the European Council would not pressurize Prague on the matter, adding that since the Czech Republic did not fulfil the respective critieria for euro zone membership it was not an issue of the present day.

Mr van Rompuy also met with the Czech president, Miloš Zeman. The European Council president’s visit comes some three weeks after the head of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, attended the ceremony of hoisting the EU flag at Prague Castle.

The leader of the opposition Social Democrats Bohuslav Sobotka on Thursday unveiled the line-up of the shadow cabinet. His ministerial team is 14-strong, with a newly added youth and sports portfolio. Jan Mládek whose candidacy for shadow finance minister was shaken by a highly imprudent remark made at the last party conference, is on the team. Jiři Dienstbier whose position was weakened after he failed to secure a post in the party leadership is shadow justice minister. Lubomir Zaorálek is shadow foreign minister and Vladimir Špidla, a former EU commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities, is shadow environment minister.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has criticized Switzerland’s decision to extend the validity of quotas for long-term residence permits granted to citizens from eight EU countries including the Czech Republic. In a statement issued on Thursday the Czech Foreign Ministry said the move was discriminatory and called for the matter to be addressed on a European level. The Swiss authorities announced the decision on Wednesday, bowing to growing unease about immigration from poorer neighbours.

The EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton also said she regretted the Swiss action, adding that it was contrary to the 1999 treaty signed with Switzerland on the free movement of people since the quotas differentiate between countries. Under the terms of the treaty non-EU Switzerland may invoke a "safeguard clause" which allows temporary caps on work permits if the annual influx exceeds a certain number.

The rather moribund debate over when to join the single European currency has been revived in recent days, with the Czech president Miloš Zeman telling a German newspaper his country could adopt the euro within five years. The eurosceptic government is rather more cautious; prime minister Petr Nečas reiterated after a meeting with the head of the European Council on Thursday that his government had no plans to set a date for adoption.

Prime Minister Petr Nečas on Wednesday criticized President Miloš Zeman over his remarks over the post-war expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia. During his visit to Austria, Mr Zeman on Tuesday said the expulsion of around three million Germans was justified as 90 percent of them had voted for a Nazi party. He also suggested that for collaborators with an occupying power, the expulsion was less severe punishment than death penalty. Speaking in Prague on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nečas said the president should adopt a more measured tone, and realize that “we live in 2013 and are members of the EU”.

Czech President Miloš Zeman told a German regional daily Passauer Neue Presse in an interview published on Saturday that he imagined the Czech Republic could adopt the European currency and join the euro zone within the next five years. The position is a departure from that of his predecessor Václav Klaus. In the interview, the president also said he was against Turkey’s joining the EU; by contrast, he suggested that Russia could join over the next 20 years. Discussing EU foreign policy priorities, Mr Zeman stressed the importance of combating terrorism (including Islamic terrorism), an area where he would like to see the Czech Republic play a greater part.