Czech Business Today

New issue of the Czech Business Today is dedicated to the Czech Presidency which has been launched in Jan. 1 and will last till the end of June.

Czech Republic became the second country after Slovenia from the EU-10 (countries that joint the EU in 2004) dealing with such difficult task. As a new member it will be confronted with many challenges such as the financial crisis, conflit in Gaza strip and gaz supplies drop-out. One might point out how curious is that the challenges are entirely copying the three priorities of the presidency defined by the Czech government last October. They are presented under three “Es” as Economy, Energy and External relations. The slogan of the CZ PRES is “Europe without barriers”. On the first and second page you will learn from the Czech minister Martin Říman, which barriers will the Czech presidency try hard to remove. 

Pages 1 and 3 are dedicated to the Energy and EU ETS. The results of the last European Council were very positive for the Czech energy company and Czech businesses. Full auctioning of emissions allowances will not commence in the Czech Republic until 2020 (regular target is 2013). 

Page 4 informs you about the events you should not miss and events recently organized by CEBRE. In January, CEBRE is organizing Business Breakfast on SMEs Access to finance (Jan. 21, Brussels) and conference titled Barriers to the Internal Market (Jan. 28, Brussels). 

Special section of the first CBT issue is dedicated to the Czech presidency priorities in specific Council formations and key events you should participate in next six months.