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Czech President Petr Pavel has vetoed a controversial bill that would overhaul the country's public budget rules, the Presidential Office announced on Tuesday.

The legislation will now return to the Chamber of Deputies, which can override the presidential veto with a majority vote.

In explaining his decision, Pavel said the bill would fundamentally change how the current and future governments manage public finances. He argued it would threaten the long-term sustainability of public finances while weakening parliamentary oversight of public spending in favour of the government.

It is the third time Pavel has returned legislation to Parliament and the first time he has exercised the veto since Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's ANO-led government took office.

Finance Minister Alena Schillerová (ANO) said shortly after the announcement that the governing coalition would override the veto. In a post on X, she argued that without the bill next year's state budget deficit would have to be capped at 150 billion crowns, which she said would "devastate" both the economy and the country's defence capabilities. The government has planned a budget deficit of 310 billion crowns for this year.

The Czech state collected CZK 10.07 billion (€10.07 billion) in road tolls in the first half of the year, up 5.7 percent year-on-year. Foreign hauliers accounted for more than 54 percent of the total, CzechToll spokesperson Miroslav Beneš told the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

Motorway tolls made up 88 percent of the total revenue, with the remainder coming from tolls on designated first-class roads.

A Prague district court has rehabilitated 19 Czech dissidents, including underground figure Ivan Martin Jirous, Charter 77 spokesperson Radim Palouš and co-founder of the Committee for the Defence of the Unjustly Prosecuted (VONS) Dana Němcová, who were repeatedly imprisoned under the communist regime.

The Prague 1 District Court ruled on Monday that the "preventive" detentions—often carried out before public holidays, anniversaries of the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia or religious celebrations—were groundless. The ruling, issued 37 to 46 years after the events, also condemned the authorities' treatment of dissidents' families, lawyer Lubomír Müller told the Czech News Agency (ČTK).

Škoda Group, one of Europe's leading manufacturers of public transport vehicles, is preparing a new corporate identity after losing the right to use the Škoda name and winged-arrow logo.

The PPF-owned company must adopt a new name and logo by the end of June 2029, when its licence to use the Škoda brand expires. From July 2029, the iconic Škoda name and winged-arrow trademark will be reserved exclusively for vehicles produced by Volkswagen-owned Škoda Auto.

The agreement under which Škoda Group sold the trademark rights to Škoda Auto was announced by PPF in June 2022. Neither company disclosed the value of the transaction. At the time, PPF said the proceeds would mainly be used to reduce Škoda Group's debt and support its future growth. PPF acquired the Plzeň-based engineering company in 2018.