News of Radio Prague
EU agrees with all candidates on completion of accession talks
Leaders from the fifteen European Union states and ten mainly ex-communist candidates agreed on final entry terms late on Friday, ending years of negotiation and decades of division. The Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who steered the milestone summit to its successful conclusion despite last-minute snags and bickering over funding for future members, said that "one of the darkest and bloodiest chapters in European history" had been closed. The new members, expected to join the bloc in 2004, will be Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. The new recruits will now have to quickly implement wide-ranging economic and institutional reforms to meet EU standards.
Czechs get 83 million euros from EU
In dramatic last minute talks, the Czech Republic negotiated an increase in compensation payment for 2004-2006, which means an additional 83 million euros from the EU for the government budget. During the same time the country will be allowed to transfer 100 million euros from EU structural funds. Moreover, it will be able to increase direct agricultural subsidies from the government budget to 55, 60 and 65 percent of the EU level in 2004-2006. The Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla told reporters that the Czech Republic had achieved good conditions at the summit.
Spidla satisfied with Temelin safety declaration
Prime Minister Spidla also said that he was satisfied with a bilateral declaration about the safety of the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant, on which he had agreed with the Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel on Friday night. The declaration will include a single sentence that the two countries will fulfil the obligations from the previous agreements, that is the conclusions of the "Melk process" and the subsequent process since November 2001. Austrians failed to push through any mention about the jurisdiction of the European Court or a reference to the Euratom treaty with which Prague disagreed. The declaration will be attached to the Accession Treaty. The Temelin nuclear plant which is situated in south Bohemia close to Austrian and German borders, is sharply criticised by Austria and Bavaria as well as environmentalists who say it is not safe because it combines Soviet design and western fuel and safety technology.
Czech president Havel warns new EU states
Hours after the European Union leaders sealed a landmark enlargement deal on Friday, the Czech President Vaclav Havel warned the 10 new members to avoid an overemphasis on a materialistic interpretation of the historic agreement. He adopted a phrase made famous by John F. Kennedy, saying that each new member should calculate what they can do for the EU, rather than asking what the EU can do for them. Mr Havel was unable to attend the summit in Copenhagen because of heavy fog, which prevented his plane from taking off.
Christian Democrats nominate presidential candidate
The Christian Democratic Party, the junior partner in the ruling coalition, has nominated Senate Chairman Petr Pithart as their official candidate for the presidential office. The senior coalition partner, the Social Democrats have put forward former Justice Minister Jaroslav Bures. The opposition Civic Democrats' candidate is their long-time leader Vaclav Klaus, and the Communists say they will support former communist-era military prosecutor Miroslav Krizenecky. The presidential election is expected to take place in February, after Vaclav Havel's last term of office ends. It is widely expected that no candidate will get enough support in the parliament to be elected in the first attempt.
Weather
Sunday is expected to be cloudy with snow in places. Daytime temperatures should not exceed zero degrees Celsius.
