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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.

The Czech government has earmarked 300 million crowns in incentives for foreign film productions in 2012, the daily E15 reported on Tuesday, quoting an official from the country’s Culture Ministry. Film producers will be able to apply for tax breaks covering up to 20 percent of their production costs.

The incentives programme for foreign film production in the Czech Republic was approved by the European Commission in June 2010; the country is one of 12 EU member states to qualify. Similar incentives programmes exist in Britain, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland and six other European countries where support varies between 15 and 28 percent of total film budgets. Ahead of the Culture Ministry’s approval for next year, several major productions expressed an interest in shooting in the Czech Republic.

After meeting with the Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov in Prague on Tuesday, Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas criticized those EU member states that prevent Bulgaria’s from entering the Schengen zone of free movement. Mr Nečas said it was unfair not let Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen zone in spite of the fact the two countries met all the requirements. The move was however opposed by Finland and the Netherlands.

The Czech Republic ranks sixths within the EU in terms of development aid transparency, a review by the Prague-based NGO Czech Forum for Development Cooperation said on Tuesday. The group said the country in 2010 adopted a series of steps which made the process of providing financial aid to developing countries more transparent. However, the authorities should consider what forms of aid are best suited for individual recipients as the Czech Republic provided financial to countries with high levels of corruption such as Afghanistan and Mongolia.

In 2009, the Czech Republic provided 4.08 billion crowns, or 216 million US dollars, worth of foreign aid which amounted to 0.12 percent of its GDP. European Commissioner Andris Piebalgs recently suggested the Czech Republic increase its development aid; the Czech government however is unlikely to up the aid due to austerity measures.

The three Czechs who died in a car crash in Nicaragua this week were university teachers who were working in the country on an EU-funded assistance project. The fourth passenger in the van – a young Czech student – who alone survived the tragic accident - remains in serious condition in hospital though he is reported to be out of danger. The driver of the lorry with which the van collided head on was reportedly driving without lights at night and is in custody. According to local media both vehicles had exceeded the speed limit. Brno’s Mendel University said it was devastated by the tragedy.

Despite the current debt crisis, the integration of Balkan countries into the EU and their efforts to become member states remain important. Leaders from the Vysegrad Four announced their position on the issue following a meeting in Prague on Friday. The chairmen of parliaments from the four Vysegrad countries, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, called on EU member states to abide by the Maastricht and Lisbon treaties. Balkan integration is a key issue for Hungary, the head of the country’s national assembly László Kövér said. The chairman of the Czech Senate, Milan Štěch, said that integration of Balkan states into the union is one of the foundations for peace in the region.

Austrian Foreign Minister Michael Spindelegger says that Austria will use any means available, be they legal or political, to prevent the Czech Republic from constructing new nuclear power plants. Mr. Spindelegger’s statement came on Friday; he added that energy policy needs to be understood in a European context. Austrian Environment Minister Nikolaus Berlakovich slammed the Czech Republic, stating that the country has not “learned its lesson from the disaster in Fukushima.” The statements from cabinet officials back efforts of local politicians in the South of the country to fight the Czech Republic’s energy policy development plan, which includes the construction of further nuclear plants as well as the completion of the nuclear power plant at Temelín.

In this week’s business news: the unexpected resignation of ČEZ CEO Martin Roman, the opening of the first gas pipeline between the Czech Republic and Poland, the Czech Finance Ministry to launch a pilot issue of retail bonds and Czechs increasingly sceptical with regard to the future of the Eurozone.

Coalition party leaders met on Tuesday morning to discuss, among other things, a dispute regarding the appointment of a state secretary for EU affairs. No agreement on the matter was reached. Deputy TOP 09 chairman Miroslav Kalousek told the Czech Press Agency that the coalition would suspend the debate for a week to allow his party’s chairman, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, and the prime minister time to reach an agreement. TOP 09 and Prime Minister Nečas have been at loggerheads over how to fill the position for several weeks, with each appointing their own sectional secretaries.

The Czech Republic has the lowest tax revenues of all EU member states, the business daily E15 reported on Tuesday. Taxes account for 45.9 percent of the state revenues; a vast majority of both the European Union and the European Free Trade Association members levy at least 50 percent of their revenues from taxes. The Czech Republic has also disproportionately high social insurance rates. However, the government’s reform efforts are aimed to change this; the value added tax rates are to rise as part of the pension reform which will also lower people’s contribution into the social and welfare system.