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Nine out of ten poor people over 65 in the Czech Republic are women, according to a report compiled for the government. The gender equality report for 2010 says that marks the highest such percentage in Europe. Women constitute some 56% of all people over 65 in the country, but 87 percent of all poor people of that age group. The report states that the reason is the markedly lower pensions that women receive compared to men of the same age. Most women have had lower salaries throughout their economic career than men, which is then reflected in their pensions. Male pensioners had average monthly pensions of 11,685 crowns in last June, compared to 9,558 crowns for women. According to the report, gender equality must be asserted in the labour market now, in order to prevent further rise in the difference between women and men´s salaries in the future.

The EU “Generation Awake” campaign for more effective consumption was launched in Prague on Thursday, as it was several days ago Poland. The campaign is aimed at encouraging European consumers to think more about their daily spending and purchasing habits, and consider that even average consumption influences issues of waste, water and energy. European Environemntal Commissioner Janez Potočnik was in Prague to start the drive, reminding Czechs that material consumption in the EU amounted to 16 tonnes per year, per capita, half of which ends up in landfills.

The Czech Republic and several other European countries along with Russia and the United States, sold weapons to authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, in recent years, says a report by the watchdog group Amnesty International. The report was released on Wednesday. Since 2005, weapons were shipped to countries like Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, and Syria, with some of them used to try and suppress the popular uprising the Arab Spring, Amnesty International said. On the basis of the report, the organisation is calling for the rules on arms export to be tightened to lower the risk of weapons being used in human rights violations.

The Czech Republic should only adopt the euro if it is approved in a referendum, Prime Minister Petr Nečas told reporters after meeting Czech MEPs in Brussels on Tuesday. Mr Nečas said that since the Czech Republic joined the EU in 2004, the eurozone has undergone a transformation into a transfer and debt union. The Czech Republic has no set benchmark for the adoption of the single European currency; however, the country is bound by its EU accession treaty to adopt the euro as soon as it meets all the criteria.

Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas has said the Czech government will not set a target for euro adoption. Speaking after Friday’s meeting of the Višegrad group in Prague, Mr. Nečas said the latest developments in the eurozone indicated a shift from a monetary alliance to a debt union, which did not invite further expansion. The eurozone’s debt crisis was one of the main issues on the agenda of a meeting of heads of government of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia in Prague. Slovakia alone was represented by its ambassador after the collapse of the country’s government earlier this week over its failure to approve the expansion of the Eurozone rescue fund.

Central European politicking took centre stage in EU news on Tuesday, as the Slovak Parliament voted against expanding the EU bailout fund and took their government down with it. Meanwhile, the EU approved the ratification of the Czech opt-out to its Charter of Fundamental Rights, which was demanded by President Václav Klaus in 2009 as he steadfastly postponed his signing of the Lisbon Treaty. To many of Wednesday’s political pundits it seems the Czechs and Slovaks are making an art out of hijacking major EU votes to drive through their domestic

The European Union has approved the ratification of a Czech exemption to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The exemption was demanded by President Václav Klaus in 2009 as he postponed his signing of the EU Lisbon treaty, his argument being that Sudeten Germans could otherwise make legal claims on Czech land. The exemption is to be ratified together with the accession of Croatia to the EU. However, it could still be blocked by the opposition Social Democrats, who currently control the Senate.

The Czech Republic will not recognise the conviction of former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko and is deeply disappointed with the verdict, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Tuesday. Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg told journalists after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg that the conviction of Tymoshenko will harm relations between the European Union and Ukraine. Tymoshenko was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday for having transgressed her powers as prime minister. The court ruled that she must also cover damages of roughly 200 million dollars incurred by the state energy company Naftogaz through Russian gas import contracts she signed in 2009. The Foreign Ministry said the trial did not respect international standards for a fair, transparent and independent legal process.

The Czech Republic has launched a new visa information system to enable speedier exchange of information within the Schengen area. The new system will require visa applicants to produce their biometric data, such as photographs and fingerprints, at Czech consulates abroad. In the first phase the new system will be applied in Northern African countries and later elsewhere. Data on short-term Schengen visas for up to 90 days and transit visas will be processed via the VIS, which will be linked to other member states with the aim of improving safety in the EU.

Senators for the Social Democratic Party have urged the government to retract the country’s demand for an opt-out from the Lisbon Treaty, tabled at the insistence of the Czech president. In 2009 President Vaclav Klaus only signed the Lisbon Treaty after the EU agreed to his demand for a Czech opt-out from the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is part of the Lisbon Treaty. The Czech president feared it could open the way for restitution claims by Sudeten Germans expelled from Czechoslovakia after the war. Social Democrat senators, who have a majority in the upper chamber say that, on the contrary, an opt-out would lower the degree of protection afforded to Czech citizens in the sphere of human rights.