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The leaders of the ruling coalition parties shall meet on Monday to discuss who should represent the country in the European Commission, Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has announced. The government suffered a diplomatic setback on Friday when its candidate, Social Democrat MP Milos Kuzvart, said he was no longer interested in the post. Mr Kuzvart withdrew his candidacy for a lack of sufficient support from the government, especially from the Foreign Ministry. According to Labour and Social Affairs Minister Zdenek Skromach, the Czech Ambassador to the Council of Europe Vlasta Stepova would be a suitable candidate for the post in the European Commission. Petr Mares, leader of the Freedom Union - a junior coalition partner, also agrees that Mrs Stepova meets the requirements.

The Czech Republic has done little to be able to use the European Union's structural funds after it joins the EU in May, the country's regional governors claim. They blame the central bodies of the government administration for failing to set the rules for drawing financial aid from EU funds. Frantisek Dohnal, governor for the Jihlava region, says he and his colleagues still lack the necessary documents and the money to co-finance individual projects. Experts have agreed that the Czech Republic will not be able to use the whole sum on offer.

The Czech Republic's candidate for EU commissioner, Social Democrat MP Milos Kuzvart officially announced on Friday he was no longer interested in the post. Mr. Kuzvart said he was giving up the candidacy because he did not feel sufficient support from the government. Earlier this week, Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda criticised the ruling Social Democrats for having chosen Mr. Kuzvart despite disapproval of the other two coalition partners.

Czech President Vaclav Klaus signed a new law on Friday reducing the road tax for environment-friendly trucks. The law will reduce costs for transport companies who have had to cope with higher excise tax on diesel and more expensive highway stickers since the beginning of this year. The law cuts road tax by 66 per cent for trucks complying with the Euro 3 standard and by 60 per cent for older trucks meeting the Euro 2 standard. Last autumn, transport firms threatened to stage protests over growing costs, but in the end, they agreed with the government on compensation in the form of a lower road tax.