News

The chairman of the lower house, Miloslav Vlček, has called a special session of Parliament for next week in an effort to get controversial social spending issues back on its agenda. The move comes after the lower house was deadlocked by hours of filibustering and right-wing politicians refused to vote on bills which would increase the precariously high state deficit. The centre-right Civic Democrats even proposed that the Chamber of Deputies should avoid any controversial issues and not make any crucial decisions until May’s general elections. However the party recently softened its stand on maternity benefits, saying that if there was overwhelming support for the proposal to maintain maternity benefits at last year’s level it would not block the bill. The level of maternity benefits became an issue of contention after caretaker finance minister Eduard Janota proposed their reduction within widespread cost-cutting measures.

The Brno police has defended the use of force in dispersing a crowd of far-right protesters outside the Supreme Administrative Court on Wednesday. The police took action against several dozen supporters of the far-right Workers’ Party who turned up to protest against the court’s decision to ban the party on the grounds that it spreads xenophobia and racial hatred. A police spokesman said the protesters had repeatedly ignored orders to disperse and in view of the fact that they were violating the law the police had no option but to use force. He stressed that no one had been injured in the operation and there had been no damage of property. The police action was criticized by the Human Rights League on the grounds that the party’s supporters were entitled to show their discontent with the court’s decision.

The sale of organic food products is reported to have slowed last year, after years of promising growth for the industry. The slow-down is being attributed to tightened family budgets as a result of the economic crisis. Organic food products are 140 percent more expensive in the Czech Republic than regular brands. According to the organic food agency Green Marketing, 2008 showed a 40 percent growth in organic food consumption, which in 2009 dropped to 5 percent. The agency Organic Monitor says there has been a slow-down in the sale of organic food products across Europe.

The region of Prague is the fifth wealthiest in Europe, according to data released Thursday by the European statistical office Eurostat. The data reflects the purchasing power standard of the individual regions of Europe in 2007 and by that measure puts Prague behind Hamburg and slightly ahead of Paris city centre. London city centre topped the list with nearly twice the buying power of Prague, or 334% of the EU standard, followed by Luxemburg and Brussels. The Czech Republic as a whole however fared much worse, with the national average amounting to 80% of the EU average. Also, some of the poorest regions in the EU were also found in the Czech Republic, particularly north-western Bohemia, which showed a purchasing power standard of 62% of the EU standard.