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The Czech Republic has still to pass thirty European laws and a law on referendum, Justice Minister Pavel Rychetsky said on Friday. The Czech Republic is the only of the ten EU candidate countries not to have a referendum law despite the fact that the fifteen European Union members are likely to decide on the Union's enlargement at the Copenhagen summit in December and the accession treaty might be ready by January next year. Mr Rychetsky said the devastating floods had halted the normal activities of the government. The referendum bill has already been passed by the lower house and has yet to be approved by the Senate. Mr Rychetsky said, however, that differences in opinion between the two parliamentary houses were complicating the matter. The Senate is planning to submit its own bill on a one-off EU accession referendum.

Prague Zoo, severely damaged by the recent floods, is going to reopen to visitors on Saturday morning. People will be able to see parts of the zoo which remained untouched by water, as well as a small part of the flooded area which has been restored. The zoo is going to display photographs of the recent events and install boxes around the site where visitors can donate money towards the recovery of the zoo. Approximately 400 animals had to be relocated to other zoos around the Czech Republic after the flood which had caused the death of close to a hundred animals, mostly birds.

Czech President Vacav Havel has met with Austrian counter-part Thomas Klestil in the south Moravian town of Znojmo to discuss ways of solving continuing disputes in Czech-Austrian relations, disputes which include the Czech operation of the controversial nuclear power plant Temelin and the historic Benes Decrees, which sanctioned the expulsion of millions of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II. The two leaders released a statement Thursday saying historic reflection would be the basis for constructive dialogue and that it was now up to political elite to face up to the task. The statement, however, did not offer any concrete steps. The two presidents also discussed the importance of continued regional co-operation, as exemplified after last month's catastrophic floods.

The Czech Prime Minister, Vladimir Spidla, and his Polish counterpart, Leszek Miller, have said referendums in both countries on accession to the European Union should be coordinated. The two men were speaking in Warsaw on Wednesday, on what was Mr Spidla's first official trip abroad since winning elections in June. They stressed that no concrete dates for such referendums had been agreed on. At a recent meeting of the presidents of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary the idea of 'cascading referendums' was put forward; meaning that votes on joining the EU should be first held in countries where support for such a move is higher, starting with Hungary. Of the four country's, support for EU accession is lowest in the Czech Republic, with around half the electorate in favour.