News

The Czech government has decided not to continue the legal dispute with the European Commission started by the previous government of Andrej Babiš over a blocked subsidy, news site irozhlas.cz reported on Thursday. The subsidy, intended for the modernisation of a chicken farm in north Moravia, was withheld by the commission due to a conflict of interest with former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's Agrofert company. The current government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala does not want to continue the dispute, the Czech News Agency reports.

The Czech government will present a concrete plan for helping households, the public sector and companies with the energy crisis next week, the Czech News Agency reported on Thursday, citing Labour Minister Marian Jurečka as a source. Mr Jurečka said that the government will supplement what is agreed on the EU level this Friday, with a national energy plan of its own. He said that the government is set to discuss the plan on Monday evening and then present the details.

Few details have been released about what this national plan may look like, but previous statements from cabinet members suggest that it will include help for core infrastructure facilities, such as schools, hospitals and social care homes, as well as for families and businesses. For example, companies that work in the processing industry could get compensation if they are able to prove that they suffered operational losses due to high energy prices.

Czechia’s National Anti-Drug Coordinator Jindřich Vobořil is preparing a law on the sale and purchasing of marijuana. The legislation should be prepared by the end of this year, he told the Czech News Agency, adding that he hopes it will be passed by January 2024.

The new measures should establish the level of narcotic substances that legal marijuana products can contain. Marijuana growers would need a licence and the law would clearly specify who they could deliver their product to. Some shop owners could also receive a license, Mr Vobořil said. The amount of marijuana that people could purchase would be limited and buyers could be required to register with the state, he said.

Prague is currently hosting a meeting of EU anti-drug coordinators who are discussing how to regulate the union’s cannabis market.

Czechia will try to exclude the question of a possible cap on gas prices from Russia out of the programme of Friday’s EU energy ministers meeting in Brussels, the country’s industry and trade minister, Jozef Síkela, told the Senate’s Committee on the Economy on Wednesday. Calling the cap a ‘political instrument’, Mr Síkela said that setting a limit on gas prices is not a solution to the crisis Europe faces. Instead, it would be more of a sanctions tool against Russia.

Highlighting that Europe is now primarily interested in an immediate solution to the energy crisis, Mr Síkela said that Czechia will intend to push the proposal of the so-called “Iberian model”, which would separate gas prices from electricity prices, onto the schedule of the meeting. The Czech industry minister said that this would primarily help when it comes to electricity prices, which could be lowered to between 200 to 400 euros per kilowatt hour. However, he also said that this model could lead to greater gas consumption, which could endanger Europe’s supplies in case of a hard winter.

Another option is being proposed by the European Commission. It intends to cap prices for some cheaper energy sources, such as nuclear power. Mr Síkela said that tax adjustments for manufacturers and distributors of energy could also be considered.

Czechia also hopes to start a discussion about the possibility of limiting the sale of climate credits used in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. A year’s halt to the scheme would not impact the EU’s climate goals, Mr Síkela said.