Summary of newsmakers of the previous days – 22. - 24.09. 2006

HN: Firms will face ecological purge; they have to get permission IPPC

More than 500 large food and agricultural firms owe other duty. They have to fulfill ecological norms and reduce emission of wastes. If they don’t get permission called IPPC till the end of October 2007, they will end. However, a half of firms even have not asked for the permission and its liquidation lasts according to experience often more than a year. Hospodářské noviny writes it today. The permission is issued by regional authorities and fulfillment of norms will be examined by the European Commission. Firms have to build sewage plant, air filters and prevent from soaking harmful substances in soil. The permission controls all limits of all emitted harmful substances. According to estimation of the chairman of Agricultural Association Miroslav Jirovský investment in these technologies will cost farmers about seven billion crowns.

CR does not use sufficiently means from structural funds

On base of the European Commission’s findings the worse country /from new member states) in use of means from European funds is Cyprus which drew from May 2004 till half of September 2006 only 19,3 %. The second worst state in drawing money from EU funds in set period is the Czech Republic which till this time has used only 23,5 % of all means. At average new member states have used 26,2 % of financial means. The European Commissioner for budget Dalia Grybauskauté reported that all new EU countries face the same problems in drawing money. It is dealt mainly with “creation of other bureaucratic layers which Brussles does not require and which obstructs allotment of aid”.

Ministress: I count on farmers

In the week after harvest-home the Ministress of Agriculture, MVDr. Milena Vicenová invited representatives of the Association of Private Agriculture of the CR to the first official meeting. Thus she confirmed her expressions that she wants to negotiate with all nongovernmental organizations of farmers. At this place there is worth short reminding of manners of several ex-ministers of agriculture from ČSSD who almost unison postponed letters of the Association of Private Agriculture CR (ASZ) with proposals on work negotiations, how it was possible. This discreditable period culminated during functioning of the Minister Mládek who even did not answer for several months. At the and only a formal meeting was realized without any effect.

Le Monde: Should new highways be built?

Also in France Mobility Week takes place just now. Activists declared a slogan “Climate changes let’s change way of transport” and they put a simple question: Does France really need to invest in new highway infrastructure when it has bound itself to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to quarter till 2050: France plans to build 2 900 kilometers of new highways and enlarge 1 600 kilometers of existing ones till 2025. However, transportation is the main resource of greenhouse gases and the greenhouse effect still intensifies, Le Monde writes. According to André Gastaud from French La Mission Interministérielle de l'Effet de Serre(MIES), the Inter-ministerial mission for greenhouse effect neither technical improvement of vehicles nor conversion to bio-fuels are sufficient so that this trend turns back. „Building of a new road will invoke rise of new transport.