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A special poll published by the agency CVVM for the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution suggests that 45% of Czechs believe that societal standards are better today than before 1989, primarily thanks to greater access to information and freedom of movement. All age groups surveyed reported similar results, though 25% of those under the age of 30 responded that they did not know. The survey also showed high faith among young people in today’s political system as compared to that of the communist regime, with only 14% responding that things were “good as they were”. Roughly a third of people aged over 30 have an ambiguous feeling about the changes since the 1980s, and almost one third of seniors aged 60 or more believe life was better before the revolution. There was vast consensus as to the significance of the Velvet Revolution, with 74% responding that the main cause was the desire for freedom over economic concerns, and almost the same number stating that the revolution is worth commemorating.

President Václav Klaus has signed a treaty with the United States requiring airline carriers from the EU to provide American authorities with data on passengers. The agreement requires 19 pieces of information to be kept on record for a period of 15, during which time it should serve to map and uncover terrorist activity. Airlines must provide the information within 15 minutes of takeoff. The president also signed a similar treaty with Australia Wednesday, however there are no direct flights from the Czech Republic to Australia at present.

One-fourth of drivers who have received the maximum 12-point penalty never possessed a drivers’ licence in the first place. The figure was reported by the daily Lidové Noviny citing research from the Ministry of Transport. Since the point system was introduced three years ago over 23,000 people (96% of them males) have received the maximum penalty, which results in the loss of the driver’s licence. Operating a motor vehicle without a licence is penalised with 7 points.

The Czech president, Václav Klaus, has put his signature to ratification of the European Union’s Lisbon treaty, allowing the document to come into force across the whole of the 27-member bloc; the Czech Republic was the last state in the EU to complete ratification of Lisbon. Mr Klaus released a statement saying he had signed the treaty at 15:00 on Tuesday, only hours after the Czech Constitutional Court ruled that it did not contravene the Czech constitution.

In a statement, the Czech president said he had expected the court to rule in favour of Lisbon. However, he also said that its verdict had not been legally neutral but represented a biased political defence of the document. Mr Klaus also said the Czech Republic would cease to be a sovereign state once the Lisbon treaty was implemented.

The caretaker Czech prime minister, Jan Fischer, co-signed the Lisbon treaty later on Tuesday afternoon, meaning that ratification has been completed on the part of the Czech Republic. The document must now be lodged in Rome.