Head of the Social Democrats insists upon scrap subsidy coming into effect this autumn

The head of the opposition Social Democrats Jiří Paroubek has insisted that his party’s plan for a scrap premium, encouraging Czechs to get rid of their old cars and buy new ones, should be implemented by this autumn. In an interview with TV Prima on Sunday, Mr Paroubek reacted to comments made by outgoing Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek on Saturday, who said that a scrap premium should not be brought into effect this year. Mr Topolánek said that carmakers in this country were already having difficulty meeting demand, which has been stimulated primarily by scrap premiums brought in in neighbouring Germany and Slovakia, and that a Czech scrap subsidy should only be brought in when this demand drops off. But on Sunday, Mr Paroubek said that this was not part of the agreement that the Social Democrats had reached with the outgoing government coalition. The Social Democrats agreed to back a government anti-crisis stimulus package last week, on the condition that a scrap premium was included in the plan.