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While the Czechs are still a little hesitant about the usage of Euro as their  currency, the Slovaks have a different point of view. They are ready to “jump in” as early as January of 2009 and exchange their “boring” Slovak crowns for something more exiting… See for yourself in this video (click here)…

CZ: Zatimco Cesi stale vahaji o zavedeni Eura jako jejich hlavni penezni menu, Slovensko to vidi jinak. Zacne totiz pouzivat Euro jiz v lednu pristiho roku. Presvecte se sami v tomto videu (kliknete zde).

According to the National Security Council of the Czech Republic more than 390,000 immigrants came to the Czech Republic in 2007. That is 22% increase when compared to the last year’s figures. Why this sudden increase?

1. Czech economy is doing great
2. unemployment rate is low (5%)
3. government subsidizes programs for various industries

Although it is easier to get in the Czech Republic when compared to other countries in Western Europe, it is much harder to stay, which a lot of immigrants don’t know.Marie Jelinkova, the spokesman of the Prague Multicultural Centre further explains: “You can come to the CR when you have a certain purpose (job, study). Once you lose you purpose, you are expected to leave..“. And what countries do most foreigners come from? (more…)

Every 2 years the EU commission assesses the situation of those countries of EU which in the future are planning to use the Euro currency system. The criteria range anywhere from the proper rate of inflation, share quotations to the rate of interest and other financial measurements. The Czech Republic for example does not fulfill the required inflation rate (in 12 months the IR = 4.4% with the EU limit being as low as 3.2%). Besides the CR other European countries such as Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and Sweden, were going through a similar scrutinizing investigation. (more…)

Money is always a hot topic. Do you ever wonder who makes the most money? Is it the Germans? The Swiss? Or maybe the Dutch?? Well, the truth has finally been revealed. The biggest salaries are currently being earned by the Swiss, specifically those who work in Zürich. The current European salary table looks like this: (more…)

According to the Eurostat’s new statistical data the Czech Republic rates as one of the safest countries of the European Union. Surprisingly, the most dangerous EU states are:

• Sweden
• Belgium
• Great Britain

Only every 30th Czech is predicted to commit a crime, whereas every 7th Swedish person has a high probability of joining the “dark side”. (more…)

What 4 countries share a border with the Czech Republic?  Well, it is Slovakia, Poland, Germany and Austria. All of those states  and other  4 EU countries joined the border-free zone last Thursday. So what do you think was happening on Thursday night? Parties! For example, about 400 people on the Czech-Austrian border (town of Schengen) celebrated their new freedom with special treats such as the traditional Schengen goulash and Schengen punch. The Schegen border-free zone has a lot of history: during the 40 years of communism over 400 Czechs lost their lives trying to escape from Czechoslovakia over to the Austrian side. While the Moravian side of this particular border was celebrating like there was no tomorrow, a lot of Austrian citizens had the looks of apprehension on their faces. The governor of Austria never even made it to the celebration. (more…)

A recent poll released by the Ceske Noviny newspaper released statistical numbers which suggest that the Czechs are one of the biggest pessimists in the European Union. Over 30,000 of participants were asked two questions:

1/ Do you think your lifestyle is going to improve in the next year?

• only 22% of Czechs said “yes”
• among the lowest five nations ranked also Hungary, Portugal and surprisingly also Austria and Germany

2/ Do you think that your lifestyle is going to get worse in the next year?

• Czechs took a second place in this one; 27% of Czechs actually believe their style of living will worsen. (more…)
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The Czech Republic “won” the 25th place out of 30 “competing” European countries regarding its smoking habits. The report included factors such as protection of non-smokers in public places, access to treatment for addicts, regulation of advertising as well as level of taxes on tobacco products. The countries that ranked even lower the CR were:

• Germany
• Austria
• Luxemburg

The author of the article, Ian Willougby, hopes that smoking will be banned all together and brings up a good point:”If the Irish can do it, if the Italians can do it, why can’t the Czechs do it?”

What do you think? Do you think that the Czechs can do it? (more…)

The Czechs start to fancy the organic foods and I am not just talking about the basic stuff such as meat, eggs or the vegetables but also the so-called bio-wine, bio-beer and bio-bread! They have spent this year 49% of their grocery money on organic food which equals to 760 million Czech crowns. This amount should increase to 3.2 milliard Czech crowns by the year 2011. The Czech Republic is therefore becoming the “star child” when it comes to ecology. Compared to other EU countries, the amount of its organically-worked land is far above the EU average, equaling about 7.2% of the total amount of the agricultural land. And that’s not all! (more…)

What is the Czech style of living compared to other European states?

• The person-to-area ratio is smaller compared to the European average. The Czechs occupy on average an area of 49 meter squared with 2.7 rooms and 2.6 people living in them. And what nation is living in the rooms size of an airport hallway? The Danish people! The average size of their house/flat is 110 meters squared with only 2.2 people living in it!
• Regarding the basic home equipment such as running water,a toilet or a shower, those homes - although tiny - seem to be doing very well. About 95% of all of the Czech households have all of these necessities which puts us on the same level with the well-to-do states such as Austria and France. Country that is not doing that well in this area is Romania, for example, where only 53% of households have an actual running water. (more…)
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