News

Intensive negotiations are taking place within the ruling coalition in order to find a suitable candidate for the post of European Commissioner following Social Democrat MP Milos Kuzvarts' unexpected rejection of the post on Friday. Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla has been meeting with advisers and his party's leadership before discussing the matter with coalition partners in government. Milos Kuzvart's unexpected decision shocked the entire political scene and has placed the Prime Minister in an embarrassing position since it was he who primarily backed Kuzvart, in the face of heated opposition from his coalition partners.

The Czech government will most likely name its new candidate to the European Commission by the end of the week, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Zdenek Skromach said on Sunday. The government is forced to find a new representative after Social Democrat MP Milos Kuzvart unexpectedly gave up the post on Friday, saying he did not have enough support from the government, especially the foreign ministry. While the European Commission has called the move "regrettable", Czech politicians were not so diplomatic. Czech President Vaclav Klaus described the situation as a "failure of the nomination process in the government, as well as the candidate himself," while Minister Skromach said in a TV discussion programme that Mr Kuzvart should resign as Member of Parliament. Prime candidates are Czech Ambassador to the Council of Europe Vlasta Stepova, Czech Ambassador to the EU Pavel Telicka, Social Democrat MP and former deputy finance minister Jan Mladek, and a former minister Kvetoslava Korinkova.

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.