Czech Government Priorities in 2022

Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s (ODS) government has published a program statement setting out its priorities, such as stabilizing public finances and orienting the state towards the European Union and NATO.

It also includes pension reform, education, environmental protection, digitalization of the public administration and support for the free market, science and research, and housing.

Mr. Fiala added that the declaration also takes into account current topics such as the pandemic or investment in sustainable development on the basis of the Green Deal.

The aim is to ensure the energy self-sufficiency of the Czech Republic.

The new center-right government will seek to lay the ground for a possible phasing out of coal by 2033, while also supporting nuclear power as part of its energy future.

Other plans aim at simplifying life for businesses, something to be expected from a centre-right government. Though Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura (Civic Democrats) presented some changes to the taxation system, he has avoided wider reforms.

The program does not mention concrete steps to fight inflation, public debt, or the budgetary deficit, the highest ever in 2021.

The government wants to continue developing a strategic partnership with Israel and that cooperation in Visegrad, which has been united in a hardline stance against illegal migration in the EU, would continue.

The coalition has also stressed cooperation with “democracies” in the world, such as Taiwan or Japan in Asia, and wants to revise relations with Russia and China, two countries with which President Zeman has sought deeper ties in the past.

The Czech Republic is to take the rotating EU presidency in the second half of 2022.