Documents and Laws in Parliament

Scope: Sections 18–112; pages 1–8.

This concerns a written interpellation by Representative Kateřina Stojanová addressed to the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs regarding allegations of unethical and racist remarks made by Karel Trpkoš, a senior official at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and the Minister’s response. The MP requests an explanation regarding the possible authenticity of an online profile, any tax-related statements, an internal investigation, and potential personnel liability. The minister states that racist remarks are incompatible with the position, but he rejects the allegations against Trpkoš, citing his security clearance from the National Security Authority (NBÚ) and the fact that, according to him, there were no complaints or investigations at the ministry. The minister did not commit to any specific new measures or sanctions and responded to some of the questions with a refusal or dismissed them as speculative.

Scope: Section 3c; pages 1–16.

The proposal increases the assessment base for state-funded public health insurance premiums for state-insured persons from 14,074 CZK to 18,362 CZK, thereby increasing the state’s monthly payment starting in 2027. At the same time, it postpones the automatic indexation of this amount, which will now apply for the first time in 2029 instead of 2024. It also repeals the government regulation on the assessment base for 2026 and is intended to stabilize the financing of public health insurance and health insurance companies. According to the explanatory memorandum, the impact on the state budget is an additional approximately 21 billion CZK per year.

Scope: Section 6; pages 1–4.

The amendment clarifies Section 6 of the main law on the coordination of construction work in the development of very high-capacity networks. It now explicitly includes not only the costs of coordination but also the costs of the actual work itself, and establishes a default rule for their allocation if the parties fail to reach an agreement. Incremental costs are to be borne in full by the applicant, while shared costs for coordination and joint work are to be divided equally among the coordinating parties. The goal is to prevent disputes and provide clearer rules for both practice and the decision-making of the Czech Telecommunications Office (ČTÚ).

Scope: Sections 6–8; pages 1–4.

The amendment clarifies the exceptions for construction work of limited scope in the Act on the Deployment of Ultra-High-Capacity Networks. Distribution is now explicitly added to the exceptions, so that they also apply to enclosed facilities used for electricity distribution, not just for generation and storage. At the same time, the existing reference to work under the annex to the Building Act is amended to provide a more specific definition of such work, particularly regarding technical infrastructure up to 100 meters in length, within enclosed non-public premises, and during emergencies. The result is a clearer determination of when certain information and coordination obligations under the Gigabit Infrastructure Regulation do not apply.

Scope: Section 112; pages 1–10.

The document contains a written interpellation by Vít Rakušan and the Prime Minister’s response regarding planned changes to the funding and legal framework of public media. The interpellation warns that both government and parliamentary proposals could jeopardize the stability and independence of Czech Television (ČT) and Czech Radio (ČRo), conflict with the European EMFA Act, and cause a significant shortfall in revenue. The attached supporting documents outline the shared concerns of some political parties and the leadership of Czech Television and Czech Radio, particularly regarding the abolition of license fees, the consolidation of regulations for both media outlets, and potential interference in the functioning of their governing boards. In his response, the Prime Minister confirms the intention to abolish license fees and fund the media from the state budget, but notes that the specific details of the changes have not yet been finalized and will be further discussed.

Scope: Part One–Part Twelve; § 1–§ 70; pages 1–30.

The bill, as returned by the Senate, extensively revises the rules governing public budgets and fiscal responsibility in accordance with the new EU framework: it introduces a national medium-term fiscal-structural plan, ties the state budget to an expenditure framework, and strengthens the role of both the National Budget Council and the Committee for Budget Forecasts. At the same time, it expands the options for budgetary management in the event of a threat to the state, war, or a significantly deteriorated security situation, and allows for an increase in spending of up to 10%, in addition to special consideration for defense, strategic infrastructure, and low-carbon energy. The bill also amends the rules governing subsidies, the State Treasury, and municipal and regional budgets; it abolishes the special pension insurance reserve account and transfers its funds to the state budget. Furthermore, it tightens the rules on conflicts of interest and incompatibility for members and employees of fiscal control institutions and introduces related changes to labor law, defense funding, and the energy sector.

Scope: Sections 8–34; pages 1–4.

The Senate is returning the amendment to the Public Budgets Act to the Chamber of Deputies with proposed amendments that primarily clarify the rules for extraordinary budgetary measures in the event of a deteriorating security situation and strengthen parliamentary oversight. The bill now explicitly links the determination of a significantly deteriorated security situation to a resolution of the State Security Council; this situation is defined more precisely, and certain originally proposed provisions have been deleted. The bill also introduces a requirement for prior deliberation in the Chamber of Deputies’ Budget Committee regarding certain measures and amends the rules for accounting for a portion of extraordinary expenditures. At the same time, these changes consist partly of technical corrections to references, renumbering, and the deletion of an entire section of the draft—that is, changes from the original version passed by the Chamber of Deputies.

Scope: Part One–Part Two; § 29a–§ 136; pages 1–18.

The bill amends the Education Act by introducing a direct legal ban on the use of cell phones during instruction, breaks, and related school activities for children in preschools, elementary school students, and students in the lower grades of multi-year high schools and conservatories. At the same time, it retains exceptions for medical reasons, special educational needs, instruction, and certain off-campus activities. The previous option for schools to regulate the ban solely through their own school rules is being abolished and transferred to new regulations for other students; in addition, schools may now require students to set aside or hand over their phones in the event of a violation of the rules. The proposed effective date is September 1, 2027.

Scope: Part One; Section 189; pages 1–4.

The amendment extends the offense of pimping to include organizing, facilitating, or profiting from paid sexual acts conducted remotely via information or communication technologies. Unlike the current provision, which targeted only prostitution, the new provision explicitly covers interactive or custom-made sexual acts, such as live streams or content created upon individual request. At the same time, the bill emphasizes that it does not target the independent creation of such content by adults without the involvement of an exploiting third party. It therefore aims to close an interpretive gap in criminal law without broadly expanding the definition of prostitution throughout the entire code.

Scope: Part One–Part Five; § 10–§ 10a; pages 1–18.

The bill changes the funding of Czech Television and Czech Radio: starting in 2027, it replaces radio and television license fees with a direct contribution from the state budget. The contribution for Czech Television is set at 5.741 billion CZK and for Czech Radio at 2.066 billion CZK, with an automatic 10% increase if cumulative inflation exceeds 10 percentage points. At the same time, the Act on Radio and Television Fees is being repealed, so citizens, entrepreneurs, and companies will no longer be required to pay these fees; however, existing debts will continue to be handled according to the current rules. The change is intended to reduce the administrative and financial burden on payers, but it shifts the costs to the state and now ties them to the Ministry of Culture’s budget.

Scope: Section 30; pages 1–3.

The amendment repeals, in Part Two, the provision that was intended to introduce a special tax exemption for tips in food service establishments, and at the same time amends the related transitional provisions in Section 30. The aim is to keep tips within the general tax regime without a new exemption for the restaurant industry. The explanatory memorandum emphasizes the simplicity and fairness of the tax system and warns against favoring a single sector, increased administrative burdens, and the risk of tax optimization.

Scope: Part One; Sections 15–17; pages 1–3.

The amendment simplifies the proposed sales record-keeping system by repealing § 15 and eliminating the related requirement to include the identification of the record-keeping unit in the data on recorded sales. This eliminates the obligation to notify the tax administrator in advance of business premises, websites, applications, means of transport, and other recording units. The goal is to reduce the administrative burden on businesses and the state and to limit the system to the recording of sales themselves and the data necessary for tax administration.

Scope: Part Three; pages 1–3.

The amendment repeals points 13 through 16 of Part Three of the main proposal so that the current VAT rate on non-alcoholic beverages served in restaurants remains unchanged. It therefore rejects the planned inclusion of these beverages in the reduced 12% rate and calls for maintaining the current status quo. The sponsors argue that this would constitute yet another ad hoc exception that increases the complexity of the VAT system and has no direct substantive connection to sales record-keeping. The amendment also criticizes the linking of the new record-keeping obligation to a tax break for selected services.

Scope: Part Two; pages 1–4.

The amendment narrows the government’s proposal to focus solely on sales records and proposes deleting from Part Two the provisions concerning changes to income tax, particularly the reinstatement of the student tax credit, the child placement tax credit, and adjustments to the tax treatment of employee vacations and trips. The main reason is that, according to the sponsors, these tax changes are not substantively related to sales recording and should not be combined into a single law. The amendment also criticizes the further expansion of tax exemptions as a step that increases the complexity of the tax system and budgetary expenditures. The practical impact would be that the law would focus more on sales recording itself, and the aforementioned tax reliefs would not be renewed in it.

Scope: Part One; Section 5; pages 1–3.

The amendment modifies the main draft of the Act on Sales Records by repealing subparagraph (b) of Section 5, thereby excluding non-cash transfers of funds from the sales records. According to the proposal, the record-keeping requirement will continue to apply primarily to cash and similar payments, which carry a higher risk of income concealment. The sponsors justify the change by noting that non-cash payments already leave a traceable record in the banking system and that additional record-keeping for them would be redundant. The proposal aims to reduce the administrative burden on businesses and strengthen the proportionality of the legal framework.

Scope: § 18–§ 112; pages 1–6.

This is a written interpellation regarding the impacts of the amendment to the VAT Act, which is set to introduce VAT on payments to public transportation providers for their services starting in 2028. The Member of Parliament points out that this could significantly increase costs for the regions and Prague, leading to higher fares or reduced service. In his response, the Minister of Transportation states that the Ministry of Finance, not the Ministry of Transportation, is primarily responsible for amending the VAT Act and for any potential compensation. The Ministry of Transport merely promises to highlight the potential negative impacts on the accessibility of public transportation in future negotiations.

Scope: pages 1–2.

The government agrees with the proposal. The proposal expands the provisions of the Act on the Supreme Audit Office in light of changes to its jurisdiction, particularly with regard to public service entities in radio and television broadcasting. However, the government requests that the effective date of this Act be aligned with the effective date of the related constitutional amendment, so that the ordinary law does not take effect before the constitutional amendment. The main impact is to promote greater external oversight of financial management while maintaining the constitutional consistency of the legislation.