Distribution of EU funds in the Czech Republic faces several weaknesses, including a lack of clear system, said German MEP Monika Hohlmeier (EPP), who led a fact-finding mission of the Budgetary Control (CONT) committee to the country.
The Czech government will fill a lawsuit against the European Commission over the suspension of subsidy payments granted to Agrofert holding, an agrochemical company of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (RE) that is currently managed by trust funds. EURACTIV.cz reports.
Modernisation and structural problems are some of the biggest challenges for rural areas across Europe, along with shrinking demographics, urban migration or digital transformation. Smart villages, an increasingly popular concept among EU members, are set to counter all those negative trends.
The Visegrad countries will need some time to close the ditches they have dug in recent years, Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček told EURACTIV.cz in an interview. He also voiced doubts about the need for a reform of EU membership negotiations, demanded by France, saying the process is already reversible at any stage.
The main areas that Central Asia region wants to be focused on in the next years are environment protection and trade liberalization. EURACTIV.cz reports from Nur-Sultan.
The European People’s Party (EPP), the biggest political group in the EU assembly, will ask for the creation of a special parliamentary committee to help formulate a new EU-wide plan to combat cancer. EURACTIV.com and EURACTIV.cz report from Strasbourg.
The Visegrad Group could propose current Slovak Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič (S&D) to be the new European Composition president, EURACTIV.cz’s partner Hospodářské Noviny (HN) learned on Monday (28 May), referring to sources close to Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
The two largest parties in the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’s ANO (ALDE) and Civic Democratic Party (ODS, ECR), have found common ground in their vision for the EU future: a stronger nation. EURACTIV Czech Republic reports.
Close collaboration between scientists, researchers and farmers has helped agriculture in the Czech Republic to take significant digital steps and increase its competitiveness, analysts told EURACTIV Czech Republic.
EU institutions concluded negotiations on the Commission’s controversial copyright reform earlier this month. Political clashes that emerged across the EU also exposed harsh divisions between the Visegrád group of Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. EURACTIV's Visegrád members report.
Truck drivers should earn the same salaries as their foreign colleagues while working abroad, according to new EU rules. But non-EU competition and disgruntled hauliers complicate the issue further. EURACTIV Czech Republic reports.
Auditors from the European Commission are in the Czech Republic to take a closer look at EU subsidies for a holding of companies formerly owned by the current Czech prime minister, which might still constitute a conflict of interest. EURACTIV Czech Republic reports.
Nearly all rabbits, hens, pigs or quails spend their entire life cramped in breeding cages. A European citizens initiative to improve these living conditions was launched in September and was supported by several NGOs in the Czech Republic. EURACTIV.cz reports.
Stay in the EU or leave? According to experts, for Poland and the Czech Republic, it is important to remain in the EU, despite widespread Euroscepticism in both countries.
MEPs have urged the European Commission to investigate Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš for possible conflicts of interest involving EU funds, after being persuaded by the Czech branch of Transparency International and the Czech Pirate Party.
The EU is finally heading the way we are proposing in terms of migration policy, the Visegrád Group countries say. But two Czech MEPs point out that the V4’s contribution to the change may be limited and other factors should be considered as well.
When it comes to migration and refugees, the Visegrad 4 governments speak with one voice: the EU should abandon any idea of a compulsory mechanism for refugee relocation. EURACTIV's network reports.
From mobility services to recycling applications, the sharing economy holds many promises. Whether to regulate it at European level remains a disputed question, however.
The energy performance contract model can turn energy efficiency renovation of buildings into a truly popular policy objective among politicians in Central and Eastern Europe because it can be done without any use of public money and has no impact on public debt, says Ivan Lesay.
European copyright law is stuck somewhere around 2000, in the era of satellite and cable broadcasting, not the internet age. That is why a copyright reform is needed, says Pavel Svoboda, the Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs.
As Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic start phasing out coal, campaigners argue that all actors – including small entrepreneurs, communities and civil society – must be part of the process.
The 32% renewable energy target agreed by EU negotiators last week is still “much lower” than what would be needed to reach the Paris goals on climate change, argue experts at the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Germany.
Despite progress in recent years, local circular economy efforts in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are still plagued by inefficient management, cheap landfilling and problematic reporting. EURACTIV's network reports.
