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The country's largest opposition party, the Social Democrats, will propose a bill to the lower house in September restricting the funding of election campaigns. The exact sum should ensue from the deputies' debate, but it could range between millions and ten millions of crowns. Last year, the Social Democrats invested a total of 260 million crowns (13,000 USD) for their election campaigns. They say the proposal is mainly designed to protect smaller parties.

The largest ruling coalition party, the Civic Democrats, are preparing changes in the lower house that would enable them to occupy the posts of chairmen of key committees that are now dominated by the opposition, Lidove Noviny reported. At present, the budget, health and controlling committee are headed by opposition Social Democrats and Communists. The Civic Democrats would also like to change the number of deputies in the committees, which now have an equal representation of the opposition and the coalition members.

Some 20 members and followers of the Czech extreme right National Corporativism group staged a demonstration on Saturday afternoon at the Moravian town of Holesov. The group marched from the railway station to the local square, being shadowed by anti-fascist supporters, but no violence was reported. The event was monitored by the police.

Czech breweries produced a record 9.92 million hectolitres of beer in the first half of 2007 due to heavy demand caused by warm weather and strong exports. The Czech Beer and Malt Association made the announcement on Friday, saying the 3.9 percent rise in production has put producers on course to beat last year's total output, potentially the best performance since the Czech Republic and Slovakia split in 1993. In the first six months of 2007, Czechs drank 8.15 million hectolitres, a 3.8 percent increase in consumption compared to the same period last year, while sales abroad rose 4.2 percent. Domestic production is dominated by three brands: the Inbev-owned Staropramen, the SAB Miller-owned Plzensky Prazdroj, and the state-owned Budejovicky Budvar.