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The Deputy Prime Minister for Economy Martin Jahn said that he expected Czech GDP growth this year to again exceed 4 percent on high exports in particular, adding that exports have grown also thanks to the country's accession to the EU last year. Mr Jahn also said that for economic growth to accelerate further, investments in education, research and development and transport infrastructure were necessary. The Czech GDP has grown faster than Poland's (2.1 percent) and Hungary's (2.9 percent), but slower than Slovakia's (5.1 percent).

The Czech Office for Personal Data Protection says it has reservations about the new bill which empowers police to obtain DNA samples without the agreement of the accused, even by force. The new bill, which the cabinet approved on Wednesday, is supposed to facilitate identification of crime perpetrators. The data protection office chairman Karel Neuwirt has expressed concern about the extent of this "extraordinary intervention in the individuals' privacy" and about the fact that the Interior Ministry had not discussed the bill with the office. Health Minister Milada Emmerova, too, said she feared that the register could be abused.

The Social Democratic Party, the senior party in the ruling coalition, has made it to second place on the popularity ladder, an opinion poll suggests. According to the results of the poll, which was conducted by the CVVM agency in May, the opposition right-of-centre Civic Democrats continue to be in the lead with 30%, followed by the Social Democrats with 16%, and the Communists, who had enjoyed second place in preceding months, with 14.5%.

The popularity of the Social Democrats suffered greatly at the beginning of the year when the party backed its leader and then prime minister Stanislav Gross in a scandal over his personal finances that led to a coalition crisis. Mr Gross resigned as prime minister and was replaced by Jiri Paroubek in April.

The Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek has told BBC TV that Britain's decision to postpone the ratification process of the EU Constitution would complicate the situation for the Czech government. Speaking on "News night" Mr. Paroubek said that coupled with the French and Dutch rejections, Britain's decision to suspend a referendum on the EU Constitution, made it impossible to continue with ratification plans as if nothing had happened. The Czech Prime Minister, who is strongly pro-federal, said it was now necessary to begin a debate on the Constitution's future. The Czech government had earlier expressed its resolve to forge ahead with an information campaign on the EU Constitution and was severely criticized by the opposition Civic Democrats who said the EU Constitution was dead and there was no point in wasting money on a campaign.