A poll for Czech Television shows that only 17 percent of Czechs are content with their political representation. Public discontent has intensified due to recent austerity measures intended to address the public deficit, with significant concerns over inflation, increasing living costs, energy price policies, and the government's poor communication. Klára Votavová, an Associate Research Fellow at EUROPEUM Institute, spoke to Czech Radio about the roots of this distrust and how Fiala's government plans to respond ahead of the 2025 parliamentary elections.
Show moreOne of the biggest obstacles to solving the climate crisis is fossil fuel subsidies. However, they have not received much attention in the Czech Republic. An Op-Ed on this topic was written by our Senior Research Fellow Kateřina Davidová.
Show moreCommentary from our researcher Klára Votavová: The publication of the government's package for the recovery of public finances was preceded by several familiar claims about the exuberant Czech state and high taxes. After weeks of negotiations, Petr Fiala's government announced that it intends to save approximately 20 billion crowns on state operations and salaries for years 2024 and 2025. It is not yet clear who will be affected by the investigation and whether it will be in the form of layoffs or salary cuts for civil servants.
Show moreEuropean Union countries are facing a period of gas consumption cuts. Although the proposal agreed by Member States aims for a voluntary reduction of 15% in consumption in the coming months compared to the average of the past five years, the pressure for even greater savings will grow. And not only in natural gas consumption, but also in electricity. Our researcher Michal Hrubý has written an overview of gas and its use in the Czech Republic, in which he highlights the need for savings to help us get through this year's heating season and answers several questions related to gas consumption. Where does the Czech Republic stand on gas? What are our supplies and where to get new capacity? And how can we save for next winter? These questions are also answered in the review. We will update the overview gradually (originally published on 1 August 2022).
Show moreOur researcher, Kateřina Davidová, commented for Aktuálně.cz on the latest package of sanctions against Russia by the European Union. According to her, the biggest impact on the Russian economy would be the restriction or ban on the purchase of mineral resources from the largest European customers or even from the whole European union. The best alternative to these energies would be to switch to renewable energy sources, says Kateřina Davidová.
Show moreVladimír Bartovic, the director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, commented for Hospodářské Noviny on the government's reduction of spending on the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. He points out that there are currently fewer Czech representatives in the presidency than representatives from Malta, a fact that could weaken the Czech Republic's position.
Show moreIn his blog post, Vojtěch Freitag deals with the budget cuts in EU defence due to the pandemic crisis.
Show moreThe director of the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy Vladimír Bartovic commented for the news server Aktuálně.cz on the topic of the approach of German Chancellor Angela Merkel towards EU's economic strategy.
Show moreIn his monitor, Vít Havelka explored the Czech position regarding the latest development in the Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) negotiations.
Show more PDFVít Havelka authored a policy brief on the Czech perspective on the European Commission's Multiannual Financial Framework.
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