Documents and Laws in Parliament

The Economic Affairs Committee resolution sets out the timetable for consideration of the Digital Economy Bill. It changes the original deadlines for tabling amendments and tabling material, specifically moving the deadlines to 21 and 28 April 2026. The aim is to speed up the consideration of the bill, which substantially tightens the regulation of digital platforms and online services.

The amendment modifies the timetable for the discussion of the amendment to the Building Act, which centralises building procedures and speeds up the permitting process. The amendment shortens the deadlines for the submission of amendments and tabular material to speed up the approval process. The document mainly concerns the organisation of the legislative process in the Chamber of Deputies.

The document is a resolution of the Media Affairs Committee on the Senate draft constitutional law that expands the powers of the Supreme Audit Office to include auditing the management of Czech Television and Czech Radio. The committee suspended the general debate and set a timetable for the submission of amendments and their consideration until the end of April 2026. The amendment is intended to increase transparency of public service media without financial impact on the state budget.

The government has rejected the MP’s proposal to increase the parental allowance from CZK 350 000 to CZK 370 000 and introduce automatic indexation, preferring the government’s own proposal with a higher increase to CZK 400 000 from January 2027. It criticises the proposed indexation mechanism as incompatible with flexible drawdown of the allowance and warns of the risks of automatic indexation for public finances. The change in the conditions for childcare for children up to 2 years of age is described as unsystematic and without substantive justification.

The government’s position on the bill rejects an increase in premium discounts for employers employing vulnerable groups. The government points to the lack of analyses proving the effectiveness of the measures and warns of the risk of a drop in state budget revenues of up to CZK 3 billion per year. It also mentions the failure of previous similar measures to deliver the expected increase in employment.

The Government has expressed its disagreement with the MPs’ proposal to extend the maximum support period for long-term care from 90 to 180 days. It argues that there are conceptual and budgetary risks, including undermining the insurance nature of the benefit and increasing mandated expenditure. It also criticises the negative impact on employers and the unclear legislative drafting of the proposal.

This law changes the rules for the selection of persons to the management and supervisory bodies of state-owned companies. The main change is that the negative opinion of the Nomination Committee becomes binding on the Ministry and prevents the appointment of the proposed person. The law also strengthens transparency by requiring the Ministry to disclose the reasons why the appointment was not made. The law is set to take effect on 1 January 2027.

The Agriculture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies discussed the government’s amendment to the Plant Health Care Act. After an introductory statement by the Minister of Agriculture and the rapporteur’s report, the Committee suspended the discussion in general debate. At the same time, it set the deadline for tabling amendments to 25 March 2026 at 12:00.

The Control Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has suspended consideration of the Senate bill amending the Constitution of the Czech Republic, which is related to the expansion of the powers of the Supreme Audit Office. The Committee also set a timetable for further consideration, including deadlines for the submission of amendments and their processing by the SAO. Final consideration in the Committee is scheduled for 29 April 2026.

The Committee on Social Policy discussed the bill amending the rules on social security contributions and recommended to the Chamber of Deputies how to proceed with the third reading vote. It set out the order of voting on each amendment and expressed its views on them. He recommended only one of the proposals (A), while he did not recommend the other amendments. At the same time, he instructed the rapporteur and the chairman of the committee to present and justify the committee’s opinion to the House plenary.

The document contains a written interpellation by MEP Eva Šrámková to the Minister of Health about the contamination of infant formula with the toxin cereulid, which has led to product recalls in Europe and suspected health problems in children in the Czech Republic. The MEP criticises the possible delay in informing the public, asks for an explanation of the authorities’ actions and proposes systemic measures, including retrospective investigations of paediatricians and better reporting of cases. The Ministry states that it received the information via the European RASFF system and that food supervision and possible sanctions are mainly the responsibility of the State Agricultural and Food Inspectorate. At the same time, the Ministry is not planning a blanket retrospective investigation of paediatricians, but allows for an internal audit of public information.

The draft amendment temporarily lowers the excise duty on fuel due to the sharp rise in prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East. The tax rate on petrol is reduced from CZK 12,840 to CZK 11,140 per 1,000 litres and on diesel from CZK 9,950 to CZK 8,250 per 1,000 litres, equivalent to a reduction of CZK 1.70 per litre. The reduction is due to apply from 1 May to 31 August 2026 and the rates will return to their original level from 1 September 2026. The measure is intended to reduce costs for transport, businesses and households, but will cause a temporary shortfall in public budget revenues.

The proposal asks the Czech Parliament to approve the ratification of the amendments to Annexes 2 and 3 of the International Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) adopted in 2025. The amendments include modifications to the species names, the introduction of a new category for extinct or probably extinct populations and a new category for severely endangered populations. The status table for bird populations is also updated, with a number of populations being reclassified into more stringent conservation categories. The Czech Republic will temporarily apply a reservation for the procedure, which it will withdraw after ratification; the changes have no direct impact on Czech laws or the state budget.

The amendment adds related changes to the Housing Assistance Act and the Uniform Monthly Employer Reporting Act. It introduces a transition period for entrepreneurs providing counselling psychotherapy, who must now have a master’s degree. For those who were already providing these services prior to July 1, 2026, the deadline for meeting this qualification is extended to July 1, 2029. The other amendments are mostly legislative technicalities and the law is to take effect on the day after promulgation.

The amendment abolishes the part of the amendment that would allow the Chamber of Deputies to limit the number of factual remarks made by Members in debate (with a minimum of two). The drafters argue that factual remarks are an important tool for responding quickly to inaccuracies or mistakes in the debate and that limiting them could make substantive debate more difficult. The current arrangement is therefore maintained without the possibility of setting a limit on the number of factual remarks. The aim is to maintain the flexibility of parliamentary debate and the possibility for Members to react immediately.

The MEP is interpellating the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs because of complaints about delays in the payment of social benefits and problems with the transition to the new system and the so-called super-dividend. The ministry states that state social assistance and aid in material distress benefits were paid within the legal deadlines and system changes did not cause any delays, according to available data. The functioning of the JENDA digital system, its testing and statistics on reported incidents are also described. The document also contains statistics on emergency immediate assistance and information on measures to speed up the care allowance procedure.

The draft constitutional law adds a new paragraph to Article 1 of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, which explicitly states that the Czech Republic is a member of the European Union and NATO. The aim is to constitutionally confirm the long-term foreign policy and security orientation of the state and to symbolically anchor its affiliation to the European and transatlantic community. The amendment is mainly declaratory in nature and does not foresee economic or social consequences. The law is proposed to take effect on 1 January 2027.

Karel Haas MP interpellates the Minister of Finance about the change in the organisational structure of the Ministry of Finance, in which the Internal Audit Department was abolished and replaced by a separate department as of 1 January 2026. The MEP expresses concern that this move may have circumvented the rules on selection procedures and undermined the independence of the internal audit function, especially as the same person as before was appointed as head without an open selection procedure. The Minister replies that the change was made to simplify the procedure and the small size of the department and that the appointment was made in accordance with the Civil Service Act. She said that some of the information requested could not be provided because it was internal or personal information.

The amendment modifies the wording of the constitutional amendment that extends the audit powers of the Supreme Audit Office to public media. It clarifies that the establishment of these media by law is not an obligation of the State, but only an option to avoid the interpretation of their constitutional irrevocability. It also explicitly states that the SAO may audit the management of these institutions even for the period before the amendment came into force. At the same time, it proposes that the law should enter into force on the fifteenth day after its promulgation instead of a fixed later date.

The bill repeals the 2016 Retail Hours of Sale Act, which prohibited large stores from selling during select public holidays. Once repealed, stores will be able to open on these holidays without restrictions on store size. The aim is to reduce business regulation, remove unequal treatment between retailers and increase the freedom of business owners and employees to choose to work on public holidays. The economic impact is expected to be slightly positive due to higher sales and tax revenues.