Related articles

The living standard of Czechs has grown significantly since the country joined the EU fifteen years ago, the results of a Eurostat survey indicate.

When the Czech Republic entered the EU in 2004, the living standard of Czechs was at 69 percent of the EU average, in 2017 it reached 83 percent, according to Eurostat data.

The data also show that consumer prices in the Czech Republic are closer to the EU average than wages.

Malta, Estonia and Lithuania are reported to have made similar progress.

A decade-long survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations has found a huge asymmetry in the Czech Republic’s integration within EU structures and attitudes of Czechs towards the EU itself. The think-tank warns this could lead to serious problems in the event of a crisis.

More than 60 percent of Czechs believe the decision to join the European Union nearly 15 years ago was beneficial to their country, an exclusive poll commissioned by Czech Radio shows. Benefits such as the ability to work abroad and visa free travel were seen as especially positive by over a thousand Czechs over the age of 18, who were surveyed by the polling agency MEDIAN.

Czech officials are gearing up for negotiations with European Commission representatives on how much money the Czech Republic may draw from EU regional development funds in 2021-2027 and what the funds may be used for. The talks are due to begin in a fortnight’s time and the Czech Republic is the first EU member state to undergo them.

A plan to revamp the Prague-based European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency is being keenly followed in the Czech Republic. The move could see even more investment in the country’s space industry, which has been flourishing for several years.

The Guardian has devoted attention to what it calls the breakthrough verdict of the Černošice council on the Czech prime minister’s alleged conflict of interests.

The Guardian notes that the Černošice council is the first Czech institution to declare that the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, still controls the giant multi-industry group Agrofert, even though he put the conglomerate into trust funds to meet a strict new conflict of interest law.

The daily notes that the verdict, issued on January 21st, could have wider resonance by influencing the outcome of the European Commission’s investigation into Agrofert’s receipt of EU subsidies in recent years. The prime minister has responded with anger to the Černošice ruling, which he described as “politicised” and vowed to challenge it.

The Czech branch of the international watchdog Transparency International filed a complaint both with the European Commission and the Černošice council - a small municipality just outside Prague where Babiš lives - because Czech law states that conflict of interest complaints must be registered with the relevant local authority.

The Czech Republic obtained CZK 45.3 billion more from the coffers of the European Union last year than it put in, according to figures released on Thursday by the Ministry of Finance. The difference in 2017 was CZK 56 billion.

Ministry officials said the gap had decreased partly because of higher Czech contributions to the EU and partly because a rise in the use of EU funds for the 2014 to 2020 period had not offset a decline in EU budget revenues in the previous seven-year period.

The Czech Republic has been a net beneficiary of EU funds every year since it joined the bloc in 2004.

No parties in the lower house will veto a fast-track process under which legislation will be passed ensuring the rights of British citizens in the Czech Republic following the UK’s departure from the EU, the Minister of the Interior, Jan Hamáček, said on Thursday. The bill should be debated and approved in its first reading, he said.

Mr. Hamáček said the amendment would introduce transition periods in 18 different areas under which British people would have the same rights as EU citizens until the end of 2020. He said he expected the London government would reciprocate and protect Czechs living in the UK.

European Union auditors have begun examining documents held in Prague by the State Agricultural Intervention Fund in connection with allegations of conflict of interest on the part of the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš of ANO, and the company Agrofert, which he placed in trust funds two years ago.

The audit should be completed by Friday. Similar controls began last week at the ministries of regional development and labour and social affairs. Critics say that Mr. Babiš is still able to influence Agrofert despite it being in trust funds. They also say that as prime minister he has influence over negotiations on the EU budget and the use of European funds in the Czech Republic.

The prime minister is facing criminal charges of abusing EU subsidies in connection with a hotel and conference centre near Prague. He denies any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a politically motivated campaign.

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Monday responded to criticism from Brussels over an alleged conflict of interest linked to EU funds paid to his former business conglomerate Agrofert. The prime minister said that in order to avoid any suspicion that he was influencing the distribution of EU funds in favour of his former business empire he would step down from a government council dealing with European Union subsidies.