23rd March 2018

Radio Praha: Survey: Czexit talks making companies nervous

Almost 80 percent of locally-based companies are disturbed by a recent debate in the Czech Republic about a referendum on leaving the European Union, suggests a new survey. And over a quarter of firms would consider upping sticks if what has been dubbed Czexit were to actually take place, the study indicates, according to Radio Praha.

That is the finding of a March survey commissioned by the German-Czech Chamber of Industry and Commerce among 150 companies and quoted by the Czech News Agency. 

The prospective of such a vote has in the past been raised by President Miloš Zeman, who was re-elected in January. 

The anti-EU party Freedom and Direct Democracy have been actively advocating for a referendum on the matter and the issue of allowing referendums in general has been a subject of discussion amid talks on forming a new Czech government. 

Some 83 percent of foreign investors are concerned about the ongoing debate on Czexit, as are two-thirds of Czech-owned firms, the recent poll indicates. Companies with 250 or more employees are the most anxious. 

If the Czech Republic were in fact to depart from the European Union, a quarter of respondents in the survey said they would weigh up reducing investments in the country. Some 28 percent would consider upping sticks entirely.

Read full article by Radio Praha.

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic