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Countdown to EuropeEU states can take measures to prevent "benefit shopping" but they must be applied across the board
One of the advantages of upcoming EU membership for the Czech Republic is
that it will allow Czechs to become part of a unified labour market once
all transitional restrictions are lifted. Not only will this ultimately
enable them to work wherever they want within the EU, it will also allow
them to avail of the social-security services that exist in their chosen
country of residence.
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Business NewsBusiness News
The Czech foreign trade balance last month reached its highest monthly
surplus in a decade. The government has announced the privatisation of two
coalmining companies. The telecommunications regulator has cut
fixed-to-mobile interconnection rates. The number of tourists visiting the
Czech Republic was up last year, while the number of bankruptcies was
down. A poll suggests few Czechs will go choose to work in other EU
countries after accession. And the governor of the Czech National Bank has
called for changes in euro adoption criteria.
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Press ReviewPress Review
All papers lead with Monday's announcement by Spain's prime minister-elect
Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that all 1,300 Spanish troops would be pulled
out of Iraq by June 30. They speculate as to whether it is a wise
decision, wonder what country's soldiers would fill the gap, and continue
to analyse international security after Thursday's bomb blasts in Madrid.
Domestically, it is a mix of stories that make the front pages ranging
from criticism of the Czech Republic's lax approach to last-minute
preparations for EU membership to the row between football fans that left
one man in hospital.
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Countdown to EuropeThe movement of labour
When the Czech Republic joins the European Union, its citizens will not
only benefit economically but they will also be able to enjoy the
advantages of travelling, studying and working in the union without
restriction. Or at least that was the argument used by the Czech
government to convince its citizens to vote in favour of EU membership,
and it worked. With an unemployment rate of ten percent, the country's
younger generation hopes to have the opportunity to work freely elsewhere,
while learning a new language and gaining international experience in the
process. After a long period of preparation and accession talks, the Czech
Republic is finally to become a fully-fledged member of the EU on May 1st
this year. In this week's Countdown to Europe, we ask Tomas Vyprachticky
from the Czech Foreign Ministry's EU information centre Euroskop, how free
the movement of labour will really be:
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Press ReviewPress Review
All the Czech papers lead with Monday's shocking murder of a teacher who
was stabbed by his student in the east Bohemian town of Svitavy. The
Academy Awards that were held in Los Angeles early on Monday morning CET
also make the front pages, with the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
emerging as the clear winner of the night with a record eleven Oscars. But
it was not a lucky night for the Czech film industry as Zelary, the Czech
nominee in the Foreign Film category, came close but not close enough, the
papers report.
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Press ReviewPress Review
There's good news and bad news in today's papers - Czechs might not be able
to work freely in the current 15 members of the European Union after
enlargement, but they will be able to work in the other nine countries
that join on May 1st. Bad news for opponents of abortion, it seems few of
the MPs who've received graphic photographs of aborted foetuses have been
persuaded to back a bill banning abortion.
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Press ReviewPress review
Stony faces in place of polite smiles on the front page of Lidove Noviny:
the visit of the Dutch Prime Minister Peter Balkenend to Prague passed
under a cloud of displeasure after the Dutch head of government announced
that his country would allow Czechs only limited access to the Dutch
labour market after the Czech Republic joins the EU in May. The Czech
Prime Minister has threatened reciprocal action, says Pravo, but given the
number of EU countries which are adopting a wary stand and restricting
access to their labour markets such a policy would merely antagonize
relations in the EU and have a counter productive effect, the daily notes.
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Press ReviewPress Review
The implications of the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union
are the centre of attention in most of today's newspapers. Mlada Fronta Dnes speculates that the elections to the European Parliament might bring
down the government of Vladimir Spidla. The paper says that the outcome of
the June elections will be a significant event on the domestic political
scene and will have a bearing on the survival of the ruling coalition.
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