News

The leaders of the governing coalition are to meet on Monday for some last-minute fine-tuning of the government-proposed reform package. The fiscal reforms aim to reduce the deficit in public finances to below three percent of GDP and have been rejected outright by the opposition for being "too radical". Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek has linked his cabinet's future to the reform package and is determined to push it through. However given the ruling coalition's slim majority in the lower house, it is essential for the three governing parties to iron out their differences on the proposal and support it as one man. Parliament is to open debate on the proposed reforms next Tuesday.

A team of American experts are expected to arrive in the Czech Republic on Monday to examine the conditions for stationing a possible US radar base close to the village of Misov, some 90 kilometres southwest of Prague, which has been selected as the most suitable location. Municipalities near the Brdy military area, where the radar base is to be located, are against the plan, fearing the radar could adversely affect the environment or the health of local residents. They have repeatedly rejected the base in locally- held referenda.

Czech cathode tubes maker Multidisplay will sack about 570 staff because of a switch to LCD production, the daily Mlada fronta Dnes said in a regional supplement on Saturday. Almost 1,000 Multidisplay staff are now at home on 70 percent of their wages due to a shutdown at the company. Michal Langos, head of the employment office in Prerov, northern Moravia said the dismissals would have no major impact on unemployment in the region. "Unemployment in our region has fallen below 9 percent and demand for workforce is high," he said. CTP Invest, which bought Multidisplay for EUR40 million in February, expects most of the sacked staff to find jobs in the local industrial park.

The three parties in the ruling coalition - the Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and the Greens - are hammering out an agreement on proposed changes to the government's reform package. The package aims to reduce the deficit in public finances to below three percent of GDP and remains highly controversial despite the fact that it has already passed through its first reading in the lower house. The opposition Social Democrats and Communists are firmly opposed to it and given the ruling coalition's slim majority in the lower house, it is essential for the three governing parties to iron out their differences on the proposal. The Civic Democrats are pushing to further lower income tax, while the Christian Democrats and the Greens are not happy with proposed changes in the health sector. Parliament is to open debate on the proposed reforms next Tuesday.