Documents and Laws in Parliament

The amendment only adds a heading to the new Section 9, namely “Notification in case of unavailability of the electronic system”. This is a technical and clarifying amendment which aligns the structure of the Act with the other sections. It does not materially change the content of providers’ obligations or their impact.

The document contains a written interpellation by MP Mark Výborný and a reply by the Minister of Agriculture on the reorganisation of cyber security at the Ministry of Agriculture. The MP argues that the subordination of the Cyber Security Unit to the ICT Section threatens the independence of control and may contravene the Security Measures Decree. The Minister rejects this, stating that the role of the cyber security manager has remained separate from the operation of technical assets, the change is lawful and its appropriateness is to be examined by a planned audit. The document thus resolves the dispute over the legality and appropriateness of the organisational change in the state’s cyber security.

The document contains a written interpellation by MP Marek Výborný to the Minister of Justice on the impact of the Prime Minister’s statements about the “political process” and “politically decisive judges” on trust in the judiciary and constitutional institutions. In his reply, the Minister stresses the constitutionally guaranteed independence of the courts, the limited powers of the Ministry over judicial decision-making and the existence of remedies for misconduct. At the same time, he states that the Ministry is not preparing legislative changes to the basic principles of the independence of the judiciary.

The proposal introduces into Czech law EU rules for a more balanced representation of women and men in the management bodies of large listed companies. Affected issuers must choose a target for representation, publish data on compliance and, in the event of non-compliance, use transparent selection criteria with a preference for the under-represented gender with comparable qualifications. The Czech National Bank is given supervisory and monitoring tasks and penalties for breaches. At the same time, judicial protection of candidates is strengthened by amending the Anti-Discrimination Act and the Code of Civil Procedure.

The document contains an interpellation by MEP Jan Lipavský and a response by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on the abolition of the Strategic Communication Department of the State as of 1 January 2026. The MEP asks for an explanation of the legal, organisational and security reasons for the abolition and information on who is now in charge of the new agenda. The Prime Minister states that the department did not have a formal place in the state’s security architecture, its abolition was an internal managerial decision and the coordination of crisis communication is handled by other state mechanisms and individual ministries. According to the reply, this was not intended to undermine international cooperation or the fulfilment of commitments to the EU and NATO.

The Bill amends the Substance Misuse Act to better align with wider addiction policy. It replaces the existing notion of a national drug strategy with a new notion aimed at preventing and reducing the harms associated with addictive behaviour. The fundamental change is that it will no longer be possible to simply establish an advisory body to the government, but that the government will have to make it mandatory. At the same time, the role of the Government Office in the professional, organisational and technical provision of this coordination is explicitly enshrined.

The amendment strengthens the self-governing powers of Prague’s municipal districts in spatial planning, now allowing them to independently prepare and issue regulatory plans and zoning studies for their own territory. At the same time, it expands their ability to conclude planning agreements and explicitly deletes the provision according to which an investor could judicially replace the lack of local government consent to conclude such an agreement. The proposal also clarifies the rules for the application of building requirements, especially for listed and small buildings, and allows for their fulfilment by a financial contribution on the basis of a planning agreement.

The proposal extensively tightens criminal protection of the environment and transposes EU Directive 2024/1203 into Czech law. It introduces new criminal offences for serious ecological damage, illegal handling of waste, mercury and other hazardous substances, spreading invasive species or violation of EIA rules, while also increasing penalties for gross negligence. Another important change is the rule that permits obtained by fraud, corruption or in violation of the law are not taken into account. At the same time, the amendment modifies the Criminal Procedure Code and the powers of the security authorities to control and sanction such acts.

The amendment fundamentally changes the review of public procurement before the Office of Public Procurement to make it faster, stricter and more predictable. It introduces single-instance decision-making without appeal, tightens the conditions of the proposal, strengthens electronic submissions and changes the blocking of the conclusion of the contract so that it now lasts until the decision becomes final if the legal conditions are met. At the same time, it significantly increases the court fee for a lawsuit from CZK 3 000 to CZK 50 000, modifies bail bonds and speeds up judicial review. The functioning of the Office is also changing, including commission-based decision-making and more transparent selection of its management.

The document contains amendments to the amendment to the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber of Deputies, which further regulate the organisation of meetings, debates, interpellations, the composition of bodies and budget deliberations. The proposals differ, among other things, on whether to tighten the rules on factual remarks and speaking time, introduce a new regime for the consideration of urgent business, penalties for the participation of a deputy under the influence of alcohol or for the repeated non-participation of government members in interpellations, and also change the names of some committees. Also included are changes to the Bill’s effective date, with proposals to delay it until 1 January 2027 or until 1 July 2029.

The amendment narrows the scope of the rules that apply to consumer credit in the form of overdrafts. This type of credit is now to be covered by a smaller part of the law than in the original proposal, in line with the EU CCD2. At the same time, the obligation of professional competence for persons granting or arranging such overdrafts is abolished. The aim is to make the Czech regulation no stricter than the European rules.

The amendment narrows the scope of the rules that apply to consumer credit in the form of overdrafts. This type of credit is now to be covered by a smaller part of the law than in the original proposal, in line with the EU CCD2. At the same time, the obligation of professional competence for persons granting or arranging such overdrafts is abolished. The aim is to make the Czech regulation no stricter than the European rules.

The amendment modifies the amendment to the Consumer Credit Act in the section on the choice of the form of communication with the consumer. It changes the wording in Section 90(3) from ‘providing information’ to ‘informing’ in order to bring the amendment in line with other provisions of the Act, with the CCD2 and with the rules on disclosure of statements, for example in e-banking. The aim is to remove interpretative ambiguities and reduce the administrative burden on providers and intermediaries.

The amendment extends the road protection zone for advertising equipment to other major roads, not only motorways. It should also apply to Class I roads, selected multi-lane roads and local roads of Class I and II. The aim is to maintain greater protection and safety on congested roads following the redesignation of the built-up area.

The amendment amends the Road Traffic Act by setting the maximum weight of combinations of vehicles, including cargo, directly in the Act at 40 tonnes. At the same time, the existing regulation is changed so that the decree will no longer determine this overall limit, but only partial values and other technical parameters. The aim is to limit overloading of trucks and the associated damage to roads and risks to traffic safety.

The amendment to the Air Protection Act changes the penalty for failure of fuel suppliers to meet the required emission reductions: instead of a fine, a fee of the same amount of CZK 10 per kilogram of unreduced emissions is now set. It is explicitly added that the payment of this fee is a financial settlement of a legal obligation and does not in itself constitute an administrative offence or other punitive consequences. The aim is to increase legal certainty and proportionality of the regulation while maintaining the emission targets and compliance with EU law.

The amendment abolishes the proposed extension of the exemptions, according to which a permit would not be required for felling trees in the protection zone of a water supply or sewerage system.Section 8(2) of the Nature and Landscape Protection Act is therefore to remain unchanged. The aim is to preserve the control of the nature conservation authorities over felling and to avoid weakening the protection of trees and their ecological functions.

The amendment introduces a special transitional rule under which the validity of EIA opinions for three specific Prague transport constructions can be repeatedly extended: the City Ring Road, the Libeňská spojka and the Radlica Radial. The aim is to prevent these opinions from lapsing simply because of the extremely long and complex preparation of the constructions. This is not an across-the-board exemption, but a narrowly limited solution for the listed projects, while keeping the environmental impact assessment up to date.

The amendment extends the regime for the repeated extension of EIA opinions to special railways, in particular metro constructions. At the same time, it explicitly states that for these constructions, the validity until 31 December 2026 shall be used as the basis for further extensions, in order to avoid disputes of interpretation and weakening of legal certainty for investors. At the same time, the existing point 3 in the transitional provisions is renumbered as point 4.

The document represents an extensive reform of construction law that centralizes decision-making into a new Office of Territorial Development and regional offices of territorial development, speeds up the permitting of buildings and integrates a number of existing opinions of the authorities concerned directly into the decision of the building authority. A key conceptual change is the replacement of the concept of built-up area with the concept of developable area and the limitation of repeated assessment of already resolved public interests, especially in spatial planning, nature protection and agricultural land. The proposal also amends dozens of related laws, including EIA, conservation, water, forests, air, expropriation and strategic infrastructure, introduces fictions of consent in the event of inaction by authorities and strengthens the digitalisation of proceedings. It also includes transitional rules, transfers of staff and competences and special arrangements for renewable energy as well as an emergency construction regime related to Ukraine.