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The Czech Republic this year failed to meet two out of four criteria set by the EU for the adoption of the single European currency, the euro, according to a report by the Czech National Bank and the Finance Ministry. Due to a hike in the VAT rates, the Czech Republic did not meet the criterion of price stability. It also exceeded the three-percent limit on government budget deficit which is expected to reach percent of the GDP this year. The Czech Republic meets the remaining two conditions – government debt below 60 percent of the GDP and long-term interest rates. Although bound by its EU accession treaty to adopt the euro, the Czech Republic has set no date for doing so.

A neon heart echoing one that adorned Prague Castle 10 years ago has gone on display at the European Parliament building on Monday evening to mark the first anniversary of the death of former president Václav Havel. The work of art, designed by Czech artist Jiří David, was inspired by a small heart Havel used to draw below his signature. Originally, the sculpture went up at Prague Castle at the end of Havel’s final term as president in 2002. The heart in Brussels is based on the same design but produced in lighter materials. A number of representatives of the European Parliament, the city of Prague, as well as other prominent personalities in Czech and European public life will be present at Monday’s ceremony.

The Czech Republic took 17th place among EU member countries in terms of its GDP per capita for last year, according to figures released by Eurostat. It improved by one place from the previous year, moving ahead of Greece. The Czech Republic has lower GDP per capita than three of the 12 newest EU member states – Cyprus, Malta and Slovenia.

Prime Minister Petr Nečas has said that the Czech Republic will not join the European Banking Union, which was agreed on on Wednesday night by European heads of state. According to Mr Nečas’ statement, the Czech Republic has no reason to do so yet. Sweden, Poland and Hungary are also considering not joining the union at this point.

Czech president Václav Klaus said on Monday that the Czech absence in Oslo at the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to the EU was “not worth discussion”, saying if the media hadn’t drawn attention “nobody in Oslo would have noticed”. The European Union, as a body, was awarded the peace prize this year, a move that the Czech Republic’s euro sceptic president called a tragic mistake. Three top EU representatives, President Herman van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Parliament President Martin Schulz in Oslo accepted the award on behalf of the EU. Representatives of a majority of member states also attended. Mr Klaus has maintained that the award makes sense when given to a person - not to an institution.

President Václav Klaus has refused to sign an addendum to the Lisbon Treaty on the creation of a European Stability Mechanism. The president said on Friday that he considers the European Stabilization Mechanism to be ill-conceived and absurd. The addendum to the treaty which was agreed on at an EU summit last December has been ratified by both chambers of Czech Parliament, but the president’s refusal to sign it makes the Czech Republic the only EU member state not to have completed the ratification process. The Senate called on the president on Thursday to sign the addendum without further delay, noting that failure to comply with Parliament’s decision in this matter would be in violation of the constitution.

The Senate has called on President Vaclav Klaus to sign the addendum to the Lisbon Treaty relating to the creation of a European Stability Mechanism. The addendum to the treaty which was agreed on at an EU summit last December has been ratified by both chambers of Parliament but still lacks the president’s signature making the Czech Republic the last EU member state which has yet to complete the ratification process. The Senate has called on the president to sign the addendum without further delay, noting that failure to comply with Parliament’s decision in this matter would be in violation of the constitution. The country’s Eurosceptic president postponed putting his signature to the Lisbon Treaty for as long as possible, signing it only after the EU nodded to his demand for a Czech opt-out from the treaty’s Chapter of Fundamental Rights.

Parliament’s Commission for European Affairs has asked the government to vote against a proposal by Brussels to impose a 40 per cent female quota on listed company boards across the EU. Opposition to the proposal was spearheaded by Public Affairs. The commission concluded that introducing quotas for companies should be a last-ditch measure that should be decided by individual member states. MP Viktor Paggio from Public Affairs described the proposal as an ill-conceived attempt at social engineering that would inevitably backfire. The EC defended the proposal on the grounds that all its previous attempts to address a severe gender imbalance across the 27-country bloc by attempting to reach voluntary agreements with companies had failed.

Czech President Václav Klaus and Prime Minister Petr Nečas have rejected an invitation to attend the awarding ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize to the European Union that will take place in Oslo on December 10. A spokesman for the eurosceptic Czech president provided no reasons behind Mr Klaus’ decision, the government’s spokesman said Prime Minister Nečas was too busy to attend the ceremony. For his part, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said he had not been invited. The opposition Social Democrats have criticized Mr Nečas’ decision which they said put the Czech government into isolation. The Czech Republic will be one of six EU member states whose top officials will not attend the ceremony, according to media reports.

Speaking on Wednesday, Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said that a recently approved church restitution bill would have an impact on the budget for this year, even though the state has not yet begun making payments to church organisations. He said that was because under European Union rules the CZK 59 billion would have to be accounted as a one-off outlay this year. Mr. Kalousek said the 2012 budget deficit could therefore reach 5 percent of gross domestic product, rather than the projected 3.5 percent.