Czechia navigates pivotal 2024 with elections, tax reform, and nuclear questions ahead

Czechia is poised for a transformative 2024, marked by three elections, significant changes in the tax system, and the impending decision on the construction of the nuclear unit at Dukovany, a monumental investment for the nation.

The reverberations of the war in Ukraine will continue to influence events, with the presence of almost 400,000 Ukrainian refugees in Czechia nearly two years after the Russian invasion.

In June, voters across EU countries, including the Czech Republic, will elect members of the European Parliament, deciding on 720 seats, including 21 for Czech MEPs.

September will witness the Czech regional elections and elections for one-third of the upper house of the Czech parliament, the Senate, serving as a crucial test for political parties leading up to the 2025 general election.

The government's efforts to consolidate public budgets will see the majority of its proposed package coming into force, projecting a state budget deficit of 252 billion crowns.

The Constitutional Court is anticipated to make important decisions this year as the opposition movement ANO challenges key government measures, including claims that the government coalition limits the rights of opposition MPs by prematurely ending debates.

A public hearing is already scheduled in the second week of January on a motion to repeal an amendment curbing last June's pension indexation.

Late October saw major players like Westinghouse, KHNP from Korea, and EDF from France submitting bids for the construction of a new nuclear unit at the Dukovany power plant.

The assessment of these bids is scheduled for completion by March, with the government expected to make the final decision. Contracts with the winning company are slated to be signed this year, and the new nuclear unit, costing at least CZK 160 billion, is set to be completed by 2036.

Czechia will also commemorate significant anniversaries in 2024, marking its accession to NATO on March 12, 1999, and its accession to the EU on May 1, 2004.

Additionally, the Holocaust Memorial to the Roma and Sinti in Bohemia, located on the site of a former pig farm in Lety in southern Bohemia, is set to open in February.

Beyond the political landscape, athletes will be in the spotlight during the Paris Olympic Games, while Czech football players have qualified for the European Championships in Germany, playing their preliminary group matches in Leipzig and Hamburg in June. In May, the world ice hockey championships will take place in Prague and Ostrava.