http://www.radio.cz/en/current/unie How is life is going to change for ordinary Czechs after EU acession? What will it mean for foreigners who visit the Czech Republic or want to work and live here? en Wed, 28 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0200 Wed, 28 Apr 2004 00:00:00 +0200 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Radio Prague CMS 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Radio Broadcasting cr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas) webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) http://www.radio.cz/en/article/53246 The Czech Republic has received a great deal of money through various EU programmes ahead of accession. The question many Czechs are now asking is: will EU funds still be available once they and the other nine new countries join the Union on May 1? That's something I discussed with Ivo Slosarcik of the Prague-based think tank Europeum. Tue, 27 Apr 2004 23:59:59 +0200 urn:uuid:62807468-104e-5369-8e3e-0947d24a5f6d http://www.radio.cz/en/article/53022 In its assessment last November of the Czech Republic's preparedness for EU membership, the European Commission (EC) stressed that Prague was still lagging behind with regards to food safety and hygiene norms. Since then, Czech food processing companies and restaurants have worked hard at meeting EU requirements. Tue, 20 Apr 2004 23:59:59 +0200 urn:uuid:fbc33434-b987-55ee-9c55-34a93bd46781 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/52741 In less than three weeks, the Czech Republic will become a member of the European Union. One of the potential benefits of membership is that the country will be entitled to money from EU funds allocated for regional development, as the aim is to eliminate differences between regions and ensure their smooth development within the European Union. But will the regions of the Czech Republic really profit from EU membership? Tue, 13 Apr 2004 23:59:59 +0200 urn:uuid:3fda7843-efbc-5484-a643-de90d5afb7dd http://www.radio.cz/en/article/52526 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. Tue, 06 Apr 2004 23:59:59 +0200 urn:uuid:10ccf392-a161-51f8-a510-85edf61527d2 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/52277 European Union accession is now coming up fast - after a ten year accession process just weeks remain before the Czech Republic and nine other candidate countries become members. That's not to say so-called euro-sceptics have disappeared - quite the contrary. With the EU draft constitution far from ratified, and promises like the free movement of labour put for the most part on hold for now - at least for the Czechs - euro-sceptics here may feel they have been vindicated - that their warnings were correct. Jan Velinger spoke recently with economist Petr Mach, the head of the Czech Centre for Economics & Politics, asking him about his feelings on accession and what he thought Czechs would "lose" by having joined the European Union. Tue, 30 Mar 2004 23:59:59 +0200 urn:uuid:18521f2e-9bdc-57d0-94e4-1a2fa9fc461b http://www.radio.cz/en/article/52022 As decided in Lisbon the European Union plans to become the most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010. To achieve this goal it strongly supports education and training. After the accession in May, the education system of the Czech Republic will become part of this ambitious plan. Tue, 23 Mar 2004 23:59:59 +0100 urn:uuid:5e581e43-41bd-58da-9be3-81765ba05589 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/51945 In the fourteen years since the fall of communism the Czech Republic has made great efforts to repair the damage caused by decades of environmental neglect. With the installation of de-sulphurization equipment at all industrial facilities, the state of the air we breathe has significantly improved. Strict new laws and regulations have reduced the pollution of rivers and soil to such an extent that rare species of wild life have returned to their one-time habitats. A great deal still needs to be done and Czechs need to become more environment conscious on a day to day basis, but even now one can say that the country has overcome the biggest hurdles on the road to becoming an environment friendly member of the European community. The country is due to join the EU on May 1st and we asked Jakub Kaspar of the Czech Environment Ministry what remains to be done in the coming weeks. Tue, 16 Mar 2004 23:59:59 +0100 urn:uuid:630baff9-af5b-55cb-b8a2-b275326d54d3 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/51524 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: Tue, 09 Mar 2004 23:59:59 +0100 urn:uuid:02c33f6c-8803-54ba-8a66-a01b2a3b01b8 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/51246 For the last four or five years the Czech Republic has, like the other nine countries joining the European Union on May 1, been very busy adopting some 80,000 pages of EU legislation, covering everything from waste disposal to the supervision of abattoirs. But with just two months to go before accession, has the Czech Republic managed to make all the necessary preparations, or - at this late stage - is there still more to do? That's a question we put to Ivo Slosarcik, who works at the Prague-based think tank Europeum. Tue, 02 Mar 2004 23:59:59 +0100 urn:uuid:f7204a2f-2c5e-5898-ac9e-f972e6176028 http://www.radio.cz/en/article/50992 After a ten-year pre-accession period, the Czech Republic is becoming an EU member on May 1, 2004. Countdown to Europe is our new series on various aspects of Czech membership of the European Union. We will be finding out how life is going to change for ordinary Czechs - students, entrepreneurs, farmers, pensioners, members of minorities - as well as what it will mean for foreigners who visit the Czech Republic or want to work and live here. Tue, 24 Feb 2004 23:59:59 +0100 urn:uuid:81d1d13e-2d2f-5b9a-baf7-e58d5028b351