Archive: European Union | European Commission European Commission
Czech government wants to sue the European Commission
The Czech government has decided to sue the European Commission for the
first time ever. This unprecedented step comes in response to the EC's
decision to give the Czech Republic a lower CO2 quota than requested. The
Trade and Industry Ministry claims that the EC miscalculated the country's
needs in view of its projected economic growth and is hoping to get the
figure revised. But does the Czech Republic really stand any chance of
winning this case?
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Future climate change policy discussed in Prague
Scientific evidence that climate change is caused by human activity has
boosted ongoing efforts to address the problem. Now the focus is primarily
on what will happen after 2012 when the validity of the Kyoto Protocol, an
international treaty designed to limit global greenhouse gas emissions,
expires. Last week representatives of the EU, the World Bank and the new
EU member states met in Prague to discuss the challenges ahead.
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Czech industrial sector up in arms over slashed emission quotas
This week the European Commission said it was going to cut substantially
the Czech Republic's greenhouse gas emissions quota. The news has the
Czech industrial sector up in arms, and there have been reports
electricity bills will rise. The government is now considering whether to
fight the decision in a European court. But does the Czech Republic really
need a higher quota?
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Visegrad Four presidents vow common stand on Schengen zone entry
The presidents of the four Visegrad Group countries - Poland, Hungary,
Slovakia, and the Czech Republic - met for their annual meeting at Lany
Chateau, west of Prague, this weekend. The group was formed after the fall
of the countries' communist regimes in order to increase their strength on
the international stage. Since their accession to NATO and the European
Union, however, many have questioned the need for such an alliance today.
But after their meeting near Prague, the countries' presidents now say the
group has regained impetus. Dita Asiedu reports: More
EU commissioner Verheugen discusses further enlargement on Prague visit
Gunter Verheugen, vice-president of the European Commission, is currently
in Prague meeting senior Czech politicians, including Prime Minister Jiri
Paroubek. But he is no stranger to the Czech capital - he was a frequent
visitor prior to May 2004, in his then capacity as commissioner for
enlargement. On his first visit since the Czech Republic and nine other
countries joined the EU, he discussed the experience of the last two
years, and prospects for further enlargement.
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European Commission report urges original EU countries to rethink labour restrictions
The European Commission has just released a report on employment urging
original EU members to ethink restrictions on the movement of labour from
new EU countries. The report was prepared by EU Commissioner and former
Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla. It has been nearly two years since
the EU expanded to include former communist bloc countries like the Czech
Republic, but only three - the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Sweden -
opened their labour markets outright. Although estimates show that the
number of new migrant workers has been fairly high, there hasn't been an
"alarming" surge of cheap workers that some countries had
feared. Jan Velinger spoke to David Kral of Europeum, a think-tank on
European issues, asking him how he saw the experience of the past two
years.
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EU commissioner Mandelson discusses open trade in Prague
Britain's EU commissioner for trade, Peter Mandelson, came to Prague on
Tuesday to hold a speech at an international business conference. Before
the event, Mr Mandelson met members of the Czech government to discuss -
above all - economic issues.
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