The President signed amendment to the Capital.Market Undertakings Act and amendment to the Act on the Support of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises.

The Czech President signed the amendment to the Act on Court Fees that reduces fees for the registration of a company with limited liability to around EUR100. Read details in Czech here.

The Senate, the Upper Chamber of the Czech Parliament, returned the draft amendment to the Act on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities (bill no. 304) to the Chamber of Deputies with change proposals. On 24 May, the Chamber of Deputies passed the original/Chamber of Deputies version of the bill. The bill was submitted to the President. The intent of the draft amendment is to replace this list (comprising a limited number of criminal acts) by a list of criminal acts with which legal persons cannot be charged. This approach should cover a much wider range of criminal breaches, the proponents suggest. Read details in Czech.

From the sessions of the Government

At its session on 30 May, the Government approved proposal of expenditure on R&D and innovation for 2017 (CZK 32.7bn, an increase by CZK 3.7bn y-o-y), mid-term forecast for 2018, 2019 and long-term forecast for 2021.Read details here (in Czech).

At its session on 23 May, the Government rejected draft amendment to the Act on Online Sales Registration (EET) proposed by a group of MPs, suggesting that EET could apply only to VAT payers. Also on 23 May, the Government passed the informative document Analysis – amendment to the Act on Investment Incentives.Read more in Czech.

At its session on 18 May, the Government approved draft amendment to the Act on Sickness Insurance (Bill no. 821) allowing for paid paternity leave, among others. More details in Czech are available here.  

At its session on 11 May,  the Government adopted draft directive on financial limits for the purpose of the Public Procurement Act. 

At its session on 14 April, the Legislative Council of the Government recommended the Government to reject draft amendments to the Act on Foreigners' Residence in the Czech Republic and the Act on Public Health Insurance. The draft amendments aim to regulate in a complex way health insurance of foreigners in the Czech Republic. Read more. The Government rejected the bill on 23 May.

From the sessions of the Senate
The Chamber of Deputies passed the draft Act on Collection of Acts and International Treaties (bill no. 646) and submitted it to the Senate, the Upper Chamber of the Czech Parliament. The material introduces electronic process of formulating and adopting new legislation and attempts at lowering corruption risks within the legislative process. The bill could come into force in 2020. The Senate should debate the bill on 15 June.  

On May 25, the Senate expressed the will to skip the debate over the draft amendment to the Act on the Support of Research, Experimental Development and Innovation (Bill no. 489) which equals to passing the law. 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.

From the sessions of the Chamber of Deputies

A group of MPs is proposing exemptions from the Act on the Registry of Contracts. Click here for more details 

The Chamber of Deputies will debate the draft Act on State Prosecution (bill no. 790).

The Chamber of Deputies will debate the draft amendment to the Act on Insolvency (bill no. 785). 

The Act on Protection of Competition (Bill no. 702) had its second reading, change proposals were submitted. The stated intention of the bill is alignment with the new Czech Civil Code, improved international cooperation between competition authorities, and introduction of rules for documents that contain trade or bank secrets or other confidential information, for example.

On 18 December, draft amendment to the Act on Elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic was submitted to MPs and the Government. The bill no. 676 proposes rules for correspondence vote. The Government expressed neutral view, the Chamber of Deputies will debate the bill.

At its session on 29 July 2015 the Government passed draft amendment to the Act on Association in Political Parties and Political Movements that deals with the issue of political party financing. The debate over the bill no. 569 was postponed, change proposals were submitted. 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. According to the draft amendment, the limit for a donation of an individual to a political party is set at 3 million CZK. The proposed limits for election campaign financing are following: 90 million CZK for general elections, 40 million CZK for presidential elections, 7 million CZK for regional elections, No limits were set for municipal elections, including the Prague Magistrate. The limit for elections to the European Parliament remains at 50 million CZK. Also, the Government passed draft act introducing changes to election-related acts and other related acts.

Draft amendment to the Act on the Conflict of Interest, bill no. 564, had its first reading in the Chamber of Deputies on 16 December 2015. The bill is being debated at the Chamber Committee level, change proposals were submitted. The material proposes the introduction of an obligation to submit a declaration proving the origin of assets owned by public service officers/politicians on the very first day of his/her service in the new function. The current obligation requires submission of such declaration after one year in office.

Legislation 

At its session on 26 May, the Legislative Council of the Government interrupted the review of the material intent of the Act on the support of research, development and innovations. More details are available here (in Czech).

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs wrote a draft amendment to the Labor Code, proposing changes to regulation of homeworking, and measures for workplace stress prevention, among others. Another draft amendment suggests eliminating the institute of "karenční doba" related to sickness insurance in the first three days of sickness. The Tripartite (Government, Businesses, Trade Unions) has not found a compromise so far.

The Ministry for Regional Development has been reviewing comments from the interministerial review of its draft amendment to the Construction Act. Click here to view the material. https://apps.odok.cz/veklep-detail?pid=KORN9XQHE72J

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.