In 2024, the Czech Republic will see three elections and the biggest changes in the tax system in many years, as well as the announcement of the winner of the tender for the construction of the nuclear unit at Dukovany, the largest modern investment in the country.
Events in the country will also continue to be influenced by the war in Ukraine; almost two years after the Russian invasion, there are still nearly 400,000 Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic.
In June, voters in every EU country, including the Czech Republic, will elect members of the European Parliament. They will decide on 720 seats, with 21 of them allocated for Czech MEPs. In September, the Czech regional elections and elections of one third of the Senate will be a test for the parties ahead of the 2025 general election.
The majority of the government’s much-discussed package to consolidate the public finances came into force on New Year’s Day. The state budget is projected with a deficit of CZK 252 billion.
In late October last year, the US company Westinghouse, the Korean KHNP and the French EDF submitted their bids for the building of a new nuclear unit at the Dukovany power plant in South Moravia. Assessment of the bids is due to finish in March, with the final decision to be taken by the government. The contracts with the winning company are to be signed this year. The new nuclear unit will cost at least CZK 160 billion, and should be completed by 2036.
Important decisions are also expected this year at the Constitutional Court, where the opposition ANO is challenging some key government measures. ANO argues, among other things, that the government coalition is limiting the rights of opposition MPs by ending debates early. The court is already planning a public hearing in the second week of January on a motion to repeal an amendment that curtailed last June’s pension indexation.
This year, the Czech Republic will mark the anniversaries of its accession to NATO, on 12 March 1999, and its accession to the EU on 1 May 2004. The opening of the Holocaust Memorial to the Roma and Sinti, on the site of a former pig farm in Lety in southern Bohemia, is planned for February.
The Olympic Games in Paris will be a highlight for athletes during the holidays, while the Czech men’s football team has qualified for the European championships in Germany, and will play their preliminary group matches in Leipzig and Hamburg in June. In May, the world ice hockey championships will be held in Prague and Ostrava.
