The Ministry for Regional Development submitted draft Act on Public Procurement to the Legislative Council of the Government.

At its session on 25 June, the Legislative Council of the Government passed the draft amendment to the Act on Association in Political Parties and Political Movements that includes the issue of political party financing. The stated intent of the draft act is to introduce more transparent control of financing of political parties and political movements. This includes using transparent bank accounts, setting limits for donations from physical and legal entities, providing detailed overview of incomes and expenditures within annual reports, including elections-related expenditures, and publishing annual reports on the internet. The draft act also gives political parties and movements the opportunity to set up research-oriented political institutes or think-tanks that would be eligible for state contributions. The draft act also provides for the foundation of an independent authority for controlling financing of political parties, based on GRECO (Group of States against Corruption under Council of Europe) recommendations. The draft amendment will be debated by the Government. The Legislative Council of the Government also passed draft act introducing changes to election-related acts and other related acts. Read more.

From the sessions of the Government:

On 8 July the Government approved the pilot project of three preferential industrial zones - in Ostrava-Mošnov, Holešov and Most-Joseph - with more than 150ha and 40% of available space each. The project is a part of the amendment to the Investment Incentives Act that came into effect in May 2015. More such zones could be proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade after the pilot project evaluation. Click here to read more about the new economic zones and here to read more about the current state of investment incentives.

At its session on 1 July the Government approved the Strategy of Digital Literacy for the Period 2015-2020. The intent of the strategy is to develop digital literacy of Czech citizens in such a way that they become more and more capable of using the potential of digital technologies for their lifelong personal growth and increasing quality of life. Read the Strategy and related World Internet Project 2014 report for the Czech Republic  published by the expert team at the Charles University, Prague.

At its session on 1 July 2015 the Government passed draft amendment to the Act on Elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The intent of the draft amendment is to introduce minimum tresholds for the representation of female and male candidates on lists of candidates in the regional and general elections. These measures would not apply to the elections to the Senate (the Uppet Chamber of the Parliament) and presidential elections. The suggested threshold is 40% of women and 40% of men on each list of candidates. First two places on each candidate list should be given to one female and one male candidate.

From the sessions of the Parliament:

The draft Act on Proving the Origin of Assets is having its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies (Bill no. 235). The Government submitted its position (neutral) on the bill to the Chamber of Deputies on 15 July.

At its session on 6 May 2015 the Government passed a draft amendment to the Act on the Support of Research, Experimental Development and Innovation. The material is having its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies (Bill no. 489). The aim of the bill is to harmonize the Czech law with the new EU legislation and thus increase clarity and applicability of the national legislation. The draft amendment comprises changes in terminology, definitions (industrial research, applied research, experimental development, research organizations), conditions for subsidies and cummulation thereof, etc.

The draft Act on the Electronic Evidence of Payments is having its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies (Bill no. 513). The Economic and Budget Committees of the Chamber will review the Bill on 2 September. The stated intent of the Bill is to address tax evasion and increase the effectivity of tax collection (income tax, VAT).

The draft Act on State Prosecution is having its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies (Bill no. 432).

The Government approved on 9 March 2015 a draft amendment to the Act on Significant Market Power for the Sale of Agricultural and Food Products and Abuse thereof. The Bill no. 444 is being reviewed by the Committees of of the Chamber of Deputies (Committee for Agriculture on 15 July and Economic Committee on 2 September).The Bill extends the list of banned practices of retail chains, such as charging of listing fees, for example. Newly, according to the draft act, sanctions for violation of the law by retail chains could be as high as 10% of their net turnover or 10 million CZK. At its session on 3 June, the Government rejected another draft amendment to the Act (Bill no. 478). Proponents (a group of MPs) suggest termination of the Act, as, among other reasons, it only addresses the issue of dominance on the part of buyers without mentioning the dominant position of suppliers in buyer-supplier relationships. This is a discriminatory approach, and in their words, the best regulation would be no regulation in the case of the Czech retail market.

The draft amendment to the Insurance Act, Bill no. 414, was reviewed by the Chamber of Deputies on 16 June and is heading to the third reading. As of 1 January 2016 EU Directives 64/225/EHS, 73/239/EHS, 73/240/EHS, 76/580/EHS, 78/473/EHS, 84/641/EHS, 87/344/EHS, 88/357/EHS, 92/49/EHS, 98/78/ES, 2001/17/ES, 2002/83/ES and 2005/68/ES will be abolished and replaced by the Solvency II Directive, the aim of which is harmonization of the rules for the insurance and reinsurance businesses within the EU. The Solvency II Directive establishes the so-called EU Passport, which is a single licence for insurers to operate in all EU member states, given that they fulfill conditions set by the EU. The issuance of the passport-licence in the Czech Republic will fall under the competence of the Czech National Bank. The conditions for application and the process of licence issuance for entities with residence in the Czech Republic will stay more or less unchanged and the administrative burden related to the application for licence will be lower, the proponents of the draft amendment suggest. The licence will apply either to insurance or reinsurance business activities, i.e. it won’t cover both. The aim of the Directive is to minimize insolvency risks, too.

The Government passed a draft amendment to the Act on Universities, at its session on 15 April 2015. The draft amendment is currently being reviewed by the Chamber of Deputies (Bill no. 464); the debate was interrupted and the draft amendment will be discussed in the Committee for Science, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport on 24 September. The intent of the bill is, among others, to regulate accreditation activities and ensure high quality of tertiary education in the Czech Republic, as well as regulate activities of branches of foreign universities operating in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic experienced a surge in the number of university students between 2000 and 2014. In 2000, there were 8 private universities, compared with 44 private universities in 2014. The number of public universities increased by 2 (from 24 to 26) and the number of state universities decreased from 4 to 2 (3 army schools merged into 1) in the last 14 years. The number of new students entering Czech universities rised by 86 percentage points in that period and the share of those having tertiary education in the Czech population aged 25 to 64 grew from 10,96% to 19,28%. The diversity of study fields is high, with around 8829 study study fields in 2700 study programs (as of 30 June 2014).

The draft amendment to the Act on Free Access to Information, Bill no. 395, on 8 July. The draft amendment is heading to the Senate, the Upper Chamber of the Czech Parliament. The stated intent of the Bill is to harmonize Czech legislation with the EU’s Public Sector Information Directive (2013/37/EU) on re-use of public sector information. The PSI Directive focuses on the economic aspects of re-use of information rather than on the access of citizens to information. The re-use of public sector information covers commercial and non-commercial use by users outside the public sector (businesses, NGOs, academic research). The public sector information could be accessible also via remote access, for example.

The chamber of Deputies approved draft amendment to the Labor Code, Bill no. 376, on 19 June. The Constitutional and Health Care Committees of the Senate, the Upper Chamber of the Czech Parliament, approved the bill on 15 July. Senators will vote on the bill at a plenary session starting on 22 July. The proponents of the amendment suggests that provisions governing liability of an employer for damage caused as a result of work-related accidents and occupational disease, which are currently placed among transitional provisions of the Labor Code, should become an integral part of the Labor Code (in force from 1 January 2009). Originally, the administration of the employee accident insurance should have been transferred from employers to the social security system, based on the separate Act on Employee Accident Insurance.

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The interministrerial review of the draft amendment to the Insolvency (Bankruptcy) Act ended on 12 June. The stated intent of the draft amendment is to increase the control over insolvency administrators, courts and transparency of insolvency proceedings, including  better protection against bullying behavior in insolvency and strengthening of delivery of documents into data boxes. Click here to view the draft amendment.

The interministerial review of the draft amendment to the Act on Employment ended on 9 June. The purpose of the amendment is to regulate temporary employment, including chaining of fixed-term contracts, quotas for temporary employees and protection of temporary employees against insolvency of their employer. Click here to read the draft amendment.

The interministerial review of the draft amendment to the Act on the Residence of Foreigners in the Czech Republic ended on 6 June. The stated intent of the draft amendment is to make the Act simple, compact and user-friendly. For example, the proponents of the bill suggest separation of the EU agenda (entry, residence) from the agenda related to third countries' nationals. The new system should pass more responsibility on foreigners/applicants and/or entities that need these foreigners to enter and reside in the Czech Republic. Click here to read the draft amendment.