Tuesday News Briefing

NEWS  

TREATY The Czech Republic and the United Kingdom are the only countries that refused to sign on to a European Union-wide fiscal responsibility pact in Brussels Jan. 30, the Czech News Agency (ČTK) reported. Prime Minister Petr Nečas cited a lack of rights for non-eurozone members, low attention to debt criteria and President Václav Klaus' unwillingness to sign the document as reasons for the Czech refusal. However, Nečas did not rule out joining the fiscal pact later, "with gritted teeth."  

CHAIRMAN Prague Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda was elected chairman of the Civic Democratic Party's (ODS) Prague branch Jan. 30, receiving 68 of 96 votes, ČTK reported. Svoboda reiterated he was serious about purging ODS of its "old ways," citing Prime Minister and ODS head Petr Nečas' plans to do away with corruption within party ranks.  

AFGHANISTAN The Army will accept up to 800 additional soldiers in the near future to make up for the aging of military personnel, Czech Radio reported Jan. 31. Following Defense Minister Alexander Vondra's visit to Washington in mid-January, Czech troops are now slated to remain in Afghanistan until at least 2014, despite previous plans to withdraw this year.  

LABOR Union representatives are calling for the resignation of Labor and Social Affairs Minister Jaroslav Drábek because of the inefficiency of his recently implemented reforms to the labor and social welfare system, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported Jan. 31. Labor office employees have been working weekends to input handwritten data into a new internal database that keeps malfunctioning. The ministry denied these allegations, claiming 99 percent of welfare and unemployment payments for January have been made on time.  

BUSINESS

FOOD Domestic production of meat fell 6.2 percent year on year to 505,397 tons in slaughter weight in 2011, with poultry output decreasing most markedly, the Czech Statistical Office said Jan. 30. In contrast, the volume of purchased milk increased 2.3 percent year on year to 2.304 billion liters. Beef production amounted to 71,616 tons, pork output to 262,944 tons and poultry output to 170,084 tons. Regarding the growth of milk purchases, "it is a clear reaction to better prices," Agricultural Chamber head Jan Veleba said. Thanks to improved breeding management, the previous drop in cow numbers has halted, he said. On the other hand, the decrease in meat output is very negative. "It manifests a continuing fall of animal production," Veleba said.

ADVERTISING The Slovak television ad market grew 18 percent, excluding discounts, barter trades and bonuses for ad clients, to almost 550 million euros in 2011, according to data from the company TNS Slovakia. Despite the dramatic growth, television advertising is still at barely half pre-crisis levels in 2008. In 2011, the biggest spenders on television ads were mobile phone operators. The largest number of ads were broadcast by private station TV Joj, on its main channel, followed by TV Markiza.

AGRICULTURE UK Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Jim Paice said the UK is, like the Czech Republic, against awarding agricultural subsidies based on the size of the farm operation, with smaller enterprises getting more, ČTK reported. The issue is being debated by EU officials as part of talks about reforming the Common Agricultural Policy, the European system of support for farmers. Both countries are also against the requirement that all farmers keep 7 percent of their land fallow for reasons of environmental stewardship.  

WEATHER

Prague, Czech Republic; clear skies; High: -2 C, Low: -13 C          

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