Czech President Zeman accepted the resignation of the Finance Minister Andrej Babiš and appointed Ivan Pilný to the post..

The President signed amendment to the Act on Sickness Insurance introducing paid paternity leave, among others.

The Chamber of Deputies has postponed the debate over the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement CETA. The Senate approved the ratification.

The Chamber of Deputies has postponed the debate over the Paris Agreement. The Senate approved the ratification.

From the sessions of the Senate

At its session on 31 May, the Senate passed Act on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks (bill no. 936).

At its session on 31 May, the Senate rejected draft amendment to the Act on the Residence of Foreigners in the Czech Republic approved by the Chamber of Deputies. The bill no. 990 proposes, among others, the introduction of the so-called "foreign investor card", a special type of a long-term residence permit and improved rules for employees-foreigners posted within a corporation. Read more in an article by Radio Praha and in a summary (in English) by Petyovsky & Partners here.

The Senate has been debating draft amendment to the Construction Act (bill no. 927). One of major problems that is not being mentioned in discussions on issues hampering the development of municipalities is that there is no division line between the state administration, represented by the planning authorities, and municipal administration, represented by local politicians, mainly mayors...Setting the division line would also reduce the corruption potential, Head of the Association of Developers Tomáš Kadeřábek told the Czech News Agency, in reaction to the adoption of the draft amendment to the Construction Act in the Chamber of Deputies in April. More.

The Senate has been debating draft amendment to the Act on Cybersecurity (bill no. 984). The Upper Chamber has also been reviewing draft amendment to the Act on Employment (bill no. 911) aiming at introducing stricter rules for temporary employment and job agencies (More), as well as draft amendment to the Capital Markets Undertakings Act (bill no. 869) proposing, among others, regulation of high-frequency trading on stock exchange.

From the sessions of the Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies passed draft amendment to the Act on Electronic Communications (bill no. 1053). It aims, among others, at lowering the price of mobile data use. Operators argue that the effect of the legislation will be just the opposite.

The draft amendment to the Act on Social Security Insurance (bill no.1096) suggests differentiation of social security insurance contributions based on the number of children the tax payer takes care of. The contributions by parents of two and more children could decrease from the current 6.5 to 0%.

The draft Act on compensation of damage incurred by breach of competition rules had its second reading reading and is being reviewed by the Chamber committees (bill no. 991), change proposals are being submitted.

On April 28, draft amendment to the Act on Banks (bill no. 1061) had its first reading. The proposal sugests introducing exchange of information on cyber attacks among banks. The Chamber Committees have been reviewing the bill.

The Chamber Committees have been reviewing draft amendment to the Act on the Czech National Bank (bill no. 1009) proposing that the Czech National Bank’s recommendation on mortgage parameters to banks, currently non-binding, become binding.

The Chamber of Deputies received draft proposal of Act on eHealth and draft amendment to the Act on Health Services (bill 1043) that deal with issues related to technology use in health care. One of the goals is to establish the National eHealth Centre. The Government expressed disapproval with the draft proposal due to high costs.

The Chamber submitted to the Government draft amendment to the Labor Code (bill no. 1008) written by a group of MPs proposing the introduction of the institute of nursing leave. The material reacts to the ageing of the population and the need to adapt the current law to the challenges employers and employees are facing. The Government expressed disapproval. The Chamber Committee for Social Policy will debate a related draft amendment to the Sickness Insurance Act (bill no. 1029).  .

At its session on 24 August 2016, the Government approved draft amendment to the Labor Code submitted by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; proposing changes related to senior managerial employees (More details in a summary by Weinhold Legal here (in English),  regulation of homeworking, teleworking, contracts for work performed outside an employment relationship, or prevention from stress at workplace, among others (bill no. 903). The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs suggested changes (in the areas of paid holiday or telework, for example) to „bring employers and employees closer“ on these issues. The debate over the bill in the Chamber of Deputies continues and the new Finance Minister said he would support the idea of submitting the bill back to the Ministry of Labour.

The Senate’s draft amendment to the Labor Code suggests eliminating the institute of "karenční doba" related to coverage of the sickness insurance in the first three days of sickness of employees. (bill no. 744). There has been an ongoing debate within the tripartite (the government, employers and trade unions) on this issue.

The Chamber of Deputies has not started to debate the draft Act on State Prosecution yet (bill no.789, 790). 

On 18 December 2015, draft amendment to the Act on Elections to the Parliament of the Czech Republic was submitted to MPs and the Government. The bill no. 676 proposes rules for correspondence vote. The Government expressed neutral view.The Chamber has not started to debate the bill yet.

Representatives of the Liberecky region submitted draft amendment to the Act on Online Sales Registration (EET, bill no. 846) to the Chamber of Deputies and the Government. The bill suggests that EET could apply only to VAT payers. Another proposal bill no.792 by a group of MPs suggests excluding small entrepreneurs, non-VAT payers. Another proposal, bill no. 867, suggests exemptions for farmers selling their home-grown products at farmers markets. Another bill proposing EET act amendment  No debate of MPs over the bills have taken place so far.

The Senate returned draft amendment to the Act on Registry of Contracts (bill no. 699) to the Chamber of Deputies. Change proposals of the Senate rejected most of the Chamber changes made to the original version of the bill. The exemption for state-owned Budějovický Budvar n.p. from the obligation to disclose contracts as well as exemptions for some pharmaceuticals and medical devices remained in the bill. The Chamber of Deputies will take the final vote in May. Read more details in Czech. Another proposed change to the act is in the pipeline in the Chamber of Deputies (bill no. 1124).

From the sessions of the Government

At its session on 22 May, the Government approved the project of high-speed railways development in the Czech Republic and the concept of simplified visa procedures for some groups of foreign students.

On 22 May, the Government passed budget for the country’s research, development and innovations for the years 2018 (CZK 36bn), 2019 (CZK 37.3bn) and 2020 (CZK 38.5bn),

At its session on 15 May, the Government passed material intent of the Act on Social Entrepreneurship and the updated National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (earlier updates).

At its session on 10 May, the Governmet approved the plan of preparations and implementation of measures necessary to take in order to launch the e-invoice system.

The Government confirmed Jaromír Novák as the Head of the Czech Telecommunications Office for the next three years, starting in October 2017.