Czech numbers

Crazy prospect for Europe – clash of generations over work

Václav Vlk — Wed, 02 May 2012 16:08:09 +0000

Worn out pensioners with 50-year-old qualifications driving trucks or working on construction sites is a crazy prospect. Nevertheless, equally crazy is the prospect of those old folks’ peers retaining control of public administrations and thinking up ever new rules and nonsense which lead to stagnation and recession.

If Europe does not find a workable solution for its labor market, and it does not appear that an earnest search is underway, then the next conflict will not be between the proletariat and capital, but between employees, those with prospects, and the unemployed and the unemployable - those without prospects. It seems, however, that Brussels has admitted that the slogan “Po” is flooding us.

It’s irrelevant whether the term Po (meaning lateral or conceptual thinking with a view towards unavoidable change) dates from the period of the fall of the Roman Empire, or first came from the lips of Madame de Pompadour in an attempt to cheer up Louis XV. Perhaps the powerful men of the West, their political parties and trade unions should carve the word above the entrances to their opulent headquarters. After all a flood came in the form of the French Revolution some 20 years after Madame de Pompadour’s death. How much time do we have left?

Corporatism still alive

The ideology of corporatism is alive and present in the European Union. This method of economic restriction, essentially dating from the Middle Ages, to this day functions with public notaries, architects, doctors, judges and within other professionsIn society and the economy some things function according to their own rules irrespective of peoples’ wishes. At a certain stage of development, social-economic classes or groups emerge which first of all establish an position for themselves, frequently in dramatic circumstances, and then they gradually take up a defensive position and attempt to ensure that the established status quo cannot be changed.

The skilled trades in the middle ages serve as an example. Firstly former peasants and serfs had to gain liberation and force lords and municipalities to accept their rights, following which they quite quickly formed closed societies and guilds which defended the interests of members and resisted the emergence of competition on the market. The Renaissance, during which modern capitalism emerged, saw limitations to the rights of several key guilds and corporations.

Corporatism became prevalent between the two world wars in Italy, France, Spain and Austria for example, and continues to this day. A typical trait of corporatism is a strong national idea, sometimes even Fascist though not Nazi ideology, a characteristic of which is tense nationalism and preference for “domestic” (buy Czech, German or French products, employ Czech, German or French workers). Another characteristic is yearning for an authoritative leader and a strong role of the state in the economy.

The ideology of corporatism is alive and present in the European Union. This method of economic restriction, essentially dating from the Middle Ages, to this day functions with public notaries, architects, doctors, judges and within other professions. And one of the consequences is typically a limitation of services and competition, and higher prices. Today’s unions are essentially closed guilds and are one of the main reasons for the economic stagnation of the West. But closed guilds and associations always lose in the end because they hold back and destroy the economy, although for some time they bring advantages to their members.

Two problems

At the beginning of the 21^st Century the first problem is that in the new economic situation we are still using old systems and methods which already no longer function in today’s world. One example is the system of calling strikes by trade unions on the basis of collective contracts. Such a “dialogue” between capital and the labor force made sense when the working class was the largest social group. Today, however, due to changes in manufacturing processes the largest groups are of white collar workers, employees of multinational corporations, and state employees for whom it is typically difficult to ascertain their real performance and whether they are really required in their positions.

The rise of Nazism and Bolshevism was in many respects only a different expression of the battle for jobs and wagesAnother serious problem is that since the time of Henry Ford and Tomáš Baťa, pioneers of line assembly, the number of workers required for production has fallen consistently. In the Wealth of Nations published in 1776, Adam Smith wrote that progress depends on the division of labor, but what he did not foresee was that specialization would lead to mechanization and automation of individual work processes, which for the most part cut out the need for physical workers in the manufacturing process.

In the early stages of the Industrial Revolution the Luddites in England were the first to oppose this process, believing that by destroying the machines which had robbed workers of their jobs, the world would return to the “good old order” and unemployment and poverty would fall. The opposite turned out to be true.

The rise of Nazism and Bolshevism was in many respects only a different expression of the battle for jobs and wages. Although it was said that in interwar Germany and Russia the vast majority rubbed shoulders with poverty and desperation, their actual economic situation and conditions of life were much better than those of their predecessors prior to the industrial revolution.

Ever more professions

Today, the production of one needle is controlled and regulated by an army of bureaucrats and therefore the process requires around twice as many professions than in Adam Smith’s dayIn the wake of the Great Depression in the 1920’s, politicians began to look for new solutions. It was necessary to stop the emergence of social groups who considered themselves to be disenfranchised and disadvantaged. As a result support for the unemployed emerged, enough to lead a dignified life without the need to actually work.

The development of industry led to specialization and the growth of accompanying work positions. In 1770, Adam Smith counted 17 work tasks in a needle factory instead of the original one job previously performed by one “needle maker”. Production today requires at least twice as many “professions”. However, the number of “real” jobs continues to decrease and therefore the emergence of the EU and the “social market economy” was a genius solution.

Today, the production of one needle is controlled and regulated by an army of bureaucrats and therefore the process requires around twice as many professions than in Smith’s day. For production and delivery to the end customer up to 68 professions and possibly more are required. In this way further millions of people gained employment and the battle for work postponed for some time in the future. The US military in the War of the Pacific demonstrated that this new model was not just rhetorical. For one soldier who came into direct contact with the enemy, around 100 specialists were required for that one to be able to fight.

Growing educated class

Specialists must be educated and trained. While in 1915 the number of people with secondary school or university education represented between 3 and 5 percent of the population, over almost 100 hundred years later that number has grow exponentially. Ten years ago in the Czech Republic there were 762, 459 people with a university education, whereas last year’s census counted 1,117,830, which represents a growth of 46.6 percent.

Modernization and specialization in manufacturing has massively reduced the need for unskilled laborers, or those with just a basic education. This has affected not only the Roma in the Czech Republic, but also immigrants in Western Europe. But the less educated, socially non-mobile sections of society receive the bulk of support for having children. For this reason former Bundesbank board member Thilo Sarrazin wrote in his controversial book "Germany Is Abolishing Itself" that not only Germany but all of Europe is becoming dumber.

Discontented activists

The problem is that today unions have increasingly fewer members and look to keep and protect those who are already onboard, but reject those who would like to get one of the limited numbers of jobsAlso according to the latest census, the number of Czech residents with no education at all is growing. While 10 years ago the number was 37,932, in 2011 their number had climbed to 47,253, a rise of 24.6 percent. Estimates indicate that between 3 and 5 percent of Europe’s population is unemployable, people who do not fulfill the required educational and social criteria. Due to increasing specialization and the ever higher psychological demands of the labor market, it is expected that this group will grow to 10 or 15 percent over the next 20 years.

After exhausting the seemingly inexhaustible resources, the mantra of European socialists, tensions are coming to a head in Southern Europe. Tens of thousands of “discontent activists” are forming groups and are looking for solutions. All these movements are more or less similar to the Czech pressure group the Holešovská výzva [the Holešov Appeal], and their programs are comprised of a mixture of xenophobia, Marxism, National Socialism, racism, and common stupidity. But that’s not to say that many people, especially youth, don’t listen to these movements.

There is simply no longer work as we once knew it. And what there is, e.g. cleaning or helper jobs, are so low paid and socially shunned that nobody except new immigrants are willing to do them. Given that everything indicates that even modernized industry will not be able to revive the current system, the battle for work places is thus becoming decisive.

Systematic change required

In the Czech Republic like elsewhere in the EU unions are allying with the vociferous discontents. The problem is that today unions have increasingly fewer members and look to keep and protect those who are already onboard, but reject those who would like to get one of the limited numbers of jobs. The unions’ main activity today is to protect the jobs and benefits of their members, which despite their loud declarations is essentially a battle by the employed against the unemployed, who are in actual fact their competitors.

The economy and society are ripe for a change of the system, but the old recipes won’t solve anything. It’s nonsensical to demand people work until increasingly older ages. Bureaucrats and unions support raising the retirement age because retirement causes social, economic and societal slump. However, if in all of Europe more than 20 percent of young people don’t have a chance of getting a job with the number rising up to 50 percent in southern EU states, the logical conclusion is that a major conflict between generations will soon erupt.

Czech electricity grid company ready to block German wind power

Chris Johnstone — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 12:09:53 +0000

The Czech Republic is facing the growing prospect of being forced to block disruptive and volatile flows of German wind-produced electricity through its power network in what would be a powerful signal to Berlin to sort out its internal energy market.

Large amounts of wind-produced electricity from northern Germany are now being shipped through the Czech Republic to German customers in the south of the country — and onwards towards Austria — because of the insufficiencies of the north-south German electricity grid.

But Poland, with the Czech Republic close behind, is getting increasingly angry and concerned at providing the solutions for Germany’s energy problems. Poland is in pole position to construct so-called phase-shifting transformers (PSTs) along its border, which would effectively detour the German electricity flows.

But such a detour would increase pressure on the relatively sturdy Czech electricity grid to soak up more of the pressure from Germany’s wind-produced power surges, with Czech state-owned high-voltage network operator ČEPS saying that it is considering a similar step.

“In principle, we would like them [the PSTs],” ČEPS’ board member responsible for energy trade and foreign relations, Zbyněk Boldiš, told Czech Position in the wings of an energy conference on Thursday about the prospects of a European energy market. “This is something that is easy to do, and it is technically viable.”

Final talks

Boldiš said ČEPS is ready to ask its shareholder, the Czech state, for the go ahead to build the PSTs along the Czech-German border, if final last ditch talks between Warsaw and Berlin to try and solve the problem of disruptive German power flows is not solved.

“We met with the Polish side last Friday [Oct. 28] to discuss the situation, and it is pretty clear that these devices will have to be built,” Boldiš explained, adding that the Polish power grid was not as robust as the Czech one. It is simply not feasible for Germany to build new north-south power lines to relieve the existing situation before it reached a crisis point. “We are facing a situation where our own network could collapse as well because of this,” Boldiš added.

‘We met with the Polish side last Friday [Oct. 28] to discuss the situation, and it is pretty clear that these devices will have to be built.’

The ČEPS manager was blunt in his message that Germany should get to grips with its power market problems and, if necessary, curb the output of wind power plants in the north of the country or limit the distance that electricity is being shipped across the country and into neighboring Austria.

Boldiš said the steps being weighed by Polish and Czech network operators would be welcomed by their German peers — who would finally have a reason for tackle the problems created by the large wind farms in the north of the country, far from centers of population and demand.

“These wind power producers do not give a toss about the security of our domestic electricity network,” he said. “With this wind power, what we have is a sort of situation where you put some sort of ecological car on the road and it creates congestion not just on the road it is travelling down but also in the opposite direction.”

Unstable flows

The problem of unstable flows of German wind-produced power is exacerbated by the fact that Austria is a keen buyer of the cheap power for its pumped-storage hydroelectric plants, using the low cost power to pump water into high-placed reservoirs which can power turbines for peak demand. “There are around 5,500 MW of such electricity flows from Germany to Austria which is contributing to congestion of the Central European energy market,” Boldiš said. “Around 35 percent of these flows are coming through our territory.”

Germany showed no signs of trying to limit such long-distance power flows with the national power regulator if anything backing the concept of the largest possible market for trading and delivering power, he added.

Boldiš said the bill for building the power deflecting PSTs on the Czech-German border would be at least Kč 2 billion. “It could even be twice that amount, but it certainly will not be anything less,” he said. “Maybe we could seek to get the bill paid in Brussels [by the European Commission] or in Berlin.”

‘These wind power producers do not give a toss about the security of our domestic electricity network.’

The ČEPS manager blames part of the problem now being faced on European Union incentives for renewable power which do not take into account whether electricity grids, national or regional, are adequate to deal with the extra capacity.

“The problem is that this is a very localized power source and there is simply no-one living there is northern Germany where the power is produced,” Boldiš said. Another problem is the vast disparity between the time taken to get permission and build a new wind plant, around two years, and the 7-10.5 years needed to build high-voltage power lines. “This is really one thing that the EU should address,” he commented.

Cross-border squeeze

The volatile flows of German electricity is also putting a squeeze on cross-border trading of electricity, something that the EU would like to see increase, because space capacity has to be left-aside to take account of the possible surges.

While the Czech grid operator is compensated for the flows of German power, ČEPS is not entirely happy about the payment system currently in place and is seeking a review of the European rules that would give it a much better deal.

Green groups defend wind power, saying is not so disruptive if combined with other renewables which have the effect of evening out the different peaks and troughs in power production. They also blame national grid operators and governments for not giving enough emphasis to small renewables projects which would deliver electricity locally and not put a heavy burden on the national grid.

Czechs support logging in Šumava to combat bark beetle attack: SANEP

Brian Kenety — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 09:21:41 +0000

While environmental activists struggle to intervene to prevent loggers from cutting down trees in Šumava National Park following a large-scale invasion of the bark beetle, the majority of Czechs side with park and government officials, who see the action as a necessary to prevent a wider infestation, a poll by SANEP (Center for Analysis and Empirical Studies) shows. Some 4,000 trees are marked for cutting.

More than two-thirds of Czechs believe that the Šumava National Park in the Bohemian Forest might not survive the attack of the bark-beetles, an insect similar to the mountain pine beetle, which has decimated large tracts of forest in the Americas, according to SANEP. The invasion in the forest on the border with the Bavarian Forest National Park forest in southern Germany Republic is thought to be the largest in many hundreds of years. In small numbers, the bark beetle helps forests by attacking weak or dead trees.

“As seen in the current SANEP flash poll, the majority of the general public interested in the issue, as well as the Plzeň and South Bohemian regions, in which Šumava National Park is situated, agree to support a radical procedure being promoted by the park’s director, Jan Stráský,” the polling agency said.

“Similarly, the general public and residents of the Plzeň and South Bohemian regions do not support the blockage of logging by environmental activists, nor with the lodging of a complaint against the Šumava National Park, prepared by the Green Party (SZ) in connection with the human intervention.”

SANEP: Most Czechs, especially those living in the region, doubt Šumava can resist the bark beetle without intervention

The felling of infected trees weakened by bark beetle in the Šumava National Park was supported by 68.3 percent of respondents, by those from South Bohemia 72.9 percent and from the Plzeň region 70.5 percent.

Violent stand-off

The environmental and human rights grouping of lawyers, Environmental Law Service (EPS), said Tuesday that it had reported one police officer who brutally attacked a woman protester and threatened to kill her to the Czech Police Inspectorate. The EPS maintains that police and national park management are breaking the law in pushing ahead with the logging. “We believe that the police by their action are supporting what amounts to illegal logging,” EPS’ Pavel Franc told Czech Position.

Park management won a further victory on Tuesday when a provisional court order was issued calling for the Czech branch of Friends of the Earth, Hnutí Duha, to abandon the action at the site. Hnutí Duha said its three activists on site had left but that the action was continuing with the participation of dozens of other activists.

The physical confrontation follows increasing tension over the management of the national park since Environment Minister Tomáš Chalupa (Civic Democrat, ODS) named Jan Stráský, a man without an environmental or conservation background, as director of the national park in February.

Chalupa, who is due to attend a deabte in the Czech Senate on Thursday, has said that legislation relating to the park should be better defined. “A new law is a key to the solution to the problem of the Šumava National Park. It must set up a clear and firm long-term concept and thereby secure stability, including a clear strategy of the fight against bark beetle and the definitions of particular zones,” he said in a press release.

Meanwhile, representatives of the Plzeň region have submitted a bill to the lower house of Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies) that would allow for the cutting of trees in the second and third zones on the Šumava National Park. Their constituents would likely support the move. Only one in five Czech polled by SANEP said they support the environmental activists in their bid to stop lumberjacks from putting their chainsaws to work. SANEP said a ‘prevailing distrust of the activities of environmental activists’ is behind the general support for the gov’t cull.

Apart from the TOP 09, a junior member of the center-right Czech government, whose chairman Karel Schwarzenberg earlier this week challenged the Environment Ministry’s stance on the bark beetle problem, the opposition Social Democrats (ČSSD) have also criticized the Chalupa’s approach to resolving the situation. ČSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka visited the park this week with Hnutí Duha representatives.

Overall, support for the activists — some of whom have chained themselves to spruce trees or climbed and camped out in them before being chased off or arrested by police —was at 17.7 percent, in South Bohemia 13.5 percent and in the Plzeň region 14.3 percent. SANEP said a “prevailing distrust of the activities of environmental activists” was largely behind the general support for the government’s culling action. “On the other hand, public opinion could swing the other direction if scandals emerge related to mining.”

The environmentalists believe that the Šumava forest will withstand the bark beetle infestation better more readily than it would human intervention. Five out of six people told SANEP they agreed with the plan to plant new trees in the locations where trees hit by the beetles would be chopped down.

The SANEP poll was conducted on 5,701 persons aged from 18 to 69 from July 29 to August 1.

Šumava and Bavaria

Šumava is the largest national park in the Czech Republic covering 16,827 hectares. Along with the Bavarian Forest National Park with 5,843 hectares of mountainous spruce forests they make up the largest continuous belt of this type of forest in Central Europe, according to the Czech news agency ČTK. In Germany, authorities prefer to let nature take its course, with the aim of letting more beetle-immune varieties of trees grow.

In small numbers, the bark beetle helps forests remain strong by attacking mainly weak or dead trees, which makes room for younger trees to take root. After centuries of logging and planting of only spruce pines— rather than a variety of needle and also foliage trees — the woods in the Šumava and Bavarian forests have become more susceptible to bark beetle attacks.

Area 51 conspiracy theories intrigue one-third of Czechs

Raymond Johnston — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:19:46 +0000

About a third of Czechs give credence to conspiracy theories that reject the official versions of events, a poll by the Center for Analysis and Empirical Studies (SANEP) shows. The most popular conspiracy theory concerns Area 51 — a US military base where people allege experimentation with alien technology takes place.

Other popular notions among those polled were that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an “inside job” perpetrated by the US government and that the 1969 moon landing was faked. Not all of the conspiracies are old. There is also some skepticism about the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

“The majority of the general public shared the view that official information about globally significant events or facts presented by a variety of media cannot be always true, and that most world powers have reason to purposefully mislead the public and thus manipulate societal opinion,” SANEP said in its report, adding that the vast majority sees the manipulation of facts, motivated by powerful political and private forces, as a serious problem.

Only 2.4 percent of Czech respondents strongly agreed with the idea that information presented by the media about globally significant events was always true, with a further 27.6 percent rather agreeing. People holding the opposite view were more numerous and certain. Some 37 percent said “no” and 24.1 percent “rather no” to the notion. ‘Most world powers have reason to purposefully mislead the public and thus manipulate societal opinion.’

Even though the mainstream media isn’t fully trusted, not everyone rushes to embrace fringe ideas. The alternative explanations offered by conspiracy theorists appeal strongly to 12.6 percent and moderately appeal to 20.4 percent, totaling 33 percent. These types of theories are strongly rejected by 19.3 percent and moderately rejected by 27.9 percent, or 47.2 percent, still less than a majority.

The idea that the world’s largest public powers have reason to purposefully mislead and manipulate societal opinion had strong support, with 39.1 percent saying “yes” and 34.8 saying “rather yes,” totaling 73.9 percent. This rejection of the official version creates space for often outlandish alternative explanations. “Indeed, conspiracy theories reject the official version of events precisely because of the efforts to manipulate public opinion,” SANEP said.

A clear majority of Czechs are concerned about the way media information is controlled by special interests. The vast majority of respondents see “social manipulation” — a way of using propaganda to manipulate public behavior — as a serious and dangerous problem that needs to be highlighted. Indeed, 54.4 percent said “yes” and a further 25.9 percent said “rather yes.”

Similarly, a large majority — 36 percent saying “yes” and 39.3 percent saying “rather yes,” for 75.3 percent — believes governments and multinational corporations in their official statements relating to matters of national security or armed conflict intentionally manipulate facts in order to mislead or dupe people.

Area 51 revisited

When it comes to specific conspiracy theories popularly circulating in the media, Czechs are most intrigued by Area 51, a secretive military base in the state of Nevada that is barely acknowledged by the US government.

“The ‘fact’ that this classified military area is full of secrets, ongoing undisclosed experiments using alien technology and bodies of extraterrestrial beings in aggregate is believed by 34.4 percent of respondents. [The idea of] Area 51 has penetrated a number of movies, books and computer games, which undoubtedly contributes to the great popularity and to the worldwide increase in the number of supporters of theories about of UFOs and extraterrestrial civilizations,” SANEP said.

The secrecy around Area 51 has led to a virtual cottage industry of speculation. Many conspiracy theories link the alleged crash of an alien spacecraft in Roswell, New Mexico, to the military base. Several books and websites pose the idea that pieces of a crashed spacecraft and alien bodies — and possibly even live aliens — were taken to the base and are there to this day. In one book, Dr. Josef Mengele is alleged to have helped create some diminutive people who resembled space aliens.

New theories keep coming. A recently published book claims that Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin used captured German scientists to build a flying disc that looked like a spacecraft in an effort to create widespread panic and chaos in the US. This new theory even ties in Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele, who is alleged to have helped create some diminutive people who resembled space aliens. The Soviet-built flying machine is what crashed at Roswell — and its wreck was hauled to the top secret Nevada base, according to “Area 51: An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base” by Annie Jacobsen.

Another popular conspiracy theory among Czechs is that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were actually committed by the US government or one of its secretive security divisions. In total, some 29.5 percent of Czech respondents believe this notion.

“A role is probably played by the antipathy of a certain number of people toward the United States and/or media coverage of materials pointing to a number of technical and other inconsistencies that try to refute the official views of the U.S. federal government. The official US position in relation to this unprecedented act of terrorism, however, is believed by 51.2 percent of respondents,” SANEP said.

A new entry among global conspiracy theories is that the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALS did not happen — meaning that the al-Qaeda leader is still alive. “Information about the death of Osama bin Laden is considered true by more than half of the respondents (54.8 percent). However, a comparatively large number of respondents (24.8 percent) considered the report to be US fiction,” SANEP said. A new entry among global conspiracy theories is that the killing of Osama bin Laden by US Navy SEALS did not happen.

This is already the second time SANEP has asked about the event. A larger poll about the incident was conducted May 2–6 and found 31.9 percent believing to some degree that the report of bin Laden’s death was falsified. The new poll, conducted May 13–18, already saw a significant drop.

“Compared to a recent survey … the number of respondents who say the killing of Osama bin Laden was fiction decreased by 7.1 percentage points. This can be understood as a response to the gradual expansion of detailed media information and the confirmation of his death by the militant Islamic group al-Qaeda. Despite this information, however, there is still a large segment of the public that has doubts about the whole event,” SANEP said.

While new conspiracy theories may lack staying power as more facts come to light, some of the classics just keep going. The idea that the 1969 moon landing was staged still has a significant number of Czech adherents. Some 9.7 percent strongly agree and a further 9.1 percent moderately agree— adding up to 18.8 percent or almost one-fifth of the population — that the moon landing was “targeted fiction” or some sort of hoax. Some 58.3 percent — less that three-fifths — believe that it actually did happen.

Those who are skeptical about the moon landing often claim that a television stage was used to simulate moon’s surface. They point to inconsistencies in shadows, rippling effects from wind and other incongruous details to bolster their arguments. The popular film “Capricorn One,” starring Elliott Gould and O.J. Simpson, showed how such a conspiracy might work although it substituted Mars for the moon.

The survey took place May 13–18 with 9,492 Czech respondents between the ages of 18 and 69. Responses were adjusted according to demographic models. The margin of error was 1.5 percent, according to SANEP.

Czechs rank themselves poorly on climate change

Raymond Johnston — Fri, 13 May 2011 14:14:30 +0000

When it comes to causes and consequences of climate change, Czechs consider themselves the least well informed of citizens of 12 EU countries surveyed by the European Commission for a Eurobarometer report. The survey revealed there was enough misinformation to go around though, with many people across Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, France, Greece, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Romania unable to properly identify what CO2 and its basic properties are.

Only 2 percent of Czechs said they were very well informed about causes of climate change — the lowest figure in the survey — and an additional 33 percent said they were fairly well informed. The average was 8 percent claiming to be very well informed, and respondents from the Netherlands had the highest level, 16 percent.

A similar question of whether people feel they are informed about the consequences of climate change found Czechs tied with Romanians for last place, with 3 percent saying they were very well informed. For Czechs, an additional 31 percent claimed to be fairly well informed — adding up to 34 percent being well informed.

“The overall response in terms of people feeling well-informed about the different consequences of climate change was very similar to that about the causes of climate change. Again, respondents were evenly split with almost half (49 percent) feeling well informed about them and the same proportion indicating that they felt they were not well informed,” the report said.

A final area where Czechs came in last place was in stating that they were knowledgeable about ways to fight climate change, tying with Bulgaria at 2 percent stating to be very well informed. An additional 30 percent of Czech respondents claimed to be fairly well informed. For the 12 countries surveyed, people admitted to limited knowledge in this area. “Overall twice as many people felt they were ‘not at all informed’ about the ways we can fight climate change compared to those who felt ‘very well-informed’ about how to do so, 15 percent versus 7 percent,” the report stated.

Mixed ideas on what to do

The survey also asked what priorities to fight climate change should be. None of the eight options presented had a majority of support. “Three in 10 respondents (29 percent) thought that the development of industries supplying environmentally friendly technologies and services should be prioritized. Exactly the same proportion (29 percent) suggested that the promotion of cleaner cars powered by electricity or low-carbon fuels should be prioritized,” the report said.

A quarter indicated that the reduction of CO2 emissions from electricity generation should be prioritized while 22 percent favored the encouragement of building energy efficient homes and insulating existing homes should be prioritized. Just 18 percent wanted to priorities the improvement of the energy efficiency of industrial processes, such as factories.

The concepts with the least support were a sweeping tax on CO2 across the whole economy, reducing greenhouse gas from the agricultural sector and securing a reliable energy supply.

Czechs were close to the average on the top three answers, with an above average amount calling for a reduction of CO2 emissions from electricity generation.

‘Explosive’ misconceptions

Despite a claimed lack of knowledge, Czechs did better than average in answering some basic questions on climate change. Some 73 percent knew that CO2 was carbon dioxide, the second-highest number after Poles. The average was 50 percent, with 11 percent giving the erroneous answer that it was carbon monoxide and 3 percent saying it was carbon. In all, 30 percent of people did not know what CO2 was. ‘Respondents who used the Internet to get information about climate change are more likely to indicate that CO2 is carbon dioxide.’

“Respondents who used the Internet to get information about climate change are more likely to indicate that CO2 is carbon dioxide (66 percent) than those who do not use it (43 percent),” the report said. Czechs, at 36 percent, were above the 32 percent average for usually getting clmate change information from the Internet.

There was also widespread confusion about CO2, which, according to the report, at “ordinary atmospheric concentration levels … is safe to breathe, healthy and harmless, and not a water pollutant.” Most respondents perceive of CO2 in negative terms. “Over three quarters (76 percent) only selected a negative statement to apply to carbon dioxide, largely driven by those who indicated that it was ‘unhealthy,’” the report said.

Some 69 percent of Czechs described CO2 negatively, but 20 percent said it was safe to breathe — the highest level of any surveyed country. Czechs, though, at 9 percent were also above average in thinking it was explosive — it is not. The average was 7 percent.

People in general had trouble identifying the sources of CO2, with 35 percent across Europe saying erroneously factories were biggest source globally, followed by the correct response — power plants that burn fossil fuels (28 percent). The actual order according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) is that most CO2 is made by power stations, followed by passenger and freight transport, factories, heating homes and agriculture. Some 32 percent of Czechs correctly named power plants.

Most respondents did say that CO2 affected the climate. “More than four in five (83 percent) people thought that the impact of CO2 emissions would be high. Over a third (35 percent) indicated that they thought the impact would be ‘very high’ and just under half (48 percent) thought that they have ‘a fairly high impact.’ Only a small proportion of respondents thought that CO2 emissions would have a low impact on climate change: just over one in 20 (6 percent) felt that it would have ‘a very low impact’ on climate change,” the report said.

Czech respondents at 89 percent came in third after Greece and France in the percent that think CO2 has a high impact on climate change.

Overestimating renewables

A measurable area where Czech respondents were wrong was in estimating how much domestic energy came from renewable resources. Some 50 percent of respondents said that more than 10 percent of domestic energy comes from sources such as wind, water and solar (but not nuclear). In actuality it is 3.85 percent. Czechs were not alone, though as respondents from Bulgaria, Greece, the Netherlands, Poland and the UK also overestimated domestic renewables.

When it comes to what forms of energy to use, solar was most popular among all surveyed countries, with 94 percent either strongly or fairly in favor. Other methods with a majority of support were wind, followed by hydroelectric, natural gas and biomass. Coal was supported by 43 percent and nuclear by 36 percent. The basic research took place before the nuclear incident at Fukushima, Japan, and the report points out that nuclear support levels may have changed.

“Greece was strongly in favor of renewable sources with unanimous support for solar energy (100 percent) and had the lowest proportion of people in favor of nuclear energy (8%). Bulgaria emerged as the country most in favor of nuclear energy (62 percent in favor). On average across all member states, there was generally strong support for renewable energy sources, the lowest level of support for wind energy being in France (85 percent) and the lowest support for solar energy in the Czech Republic (87 percent),” the report said.

The Czech Republic had a policy to promote solar power, but when it led to higher electricity prices the goverment passed a 26 percent levy on solar producers. Some solar power producers are starting arbirtation proceedings against the state.

The favorability toward different types of energy differed depending on respondents' assessment of whether CO2 had a high impact on climate change, according to the report. “Those who thought that it had a high impact were more likely to support wind energy than those who did not think it had. Over nine in ten of those who thought that CO2 has a high impact were in favor of wind energy (92 percent) compared to over four in five (82 percent) among those who did not think CO2 had a high impact on climate change,” the report said.

Czech software piracy drops to record low, EU stagnates

Raymond Johnston — Thu, 12 May 2011 12:01:54 +0000

Software piracy in the Czech Republic dropped 1 percentage point in 2010 to a record low 36 percent, and caused a Kč 3.7 billion revenue loss for software makers. The Slovak piracy rate also fell 1 percentage point to 42 percent, according to global report from the Business Software Alliance (BSA) in collaboration with analysis firm IDC. The European Union piracy average was 35 percent, while the global average was 42 percent.

Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia are far below the Central and Eastern European (CEE) average of 64 percent. Georgia had the highest rate, 93 percent, and Moldava, Armenia, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Ukraine were all above 85 percent. Russia, though, accounted for the highest regional revenue loss of some $2.84 billion. Its piracy rate was 65 percent. The total loss for the CEE region, including the Czech Republic, was $5.5 billion.

On the other end of the scale, the US, Japan and Luxembourg had the lowest piracy rates, some 20 percent. The US though, as the world’s largest economy, had the highest worldwide monetary loss, $9.52 billion, followed by China with $7.78 billion.

“The Czech Republic reduced its piracy rate for the third year in a row. It is the only country in Central Europe that has been so successful. Despite this, the value of pirated software increased by almost Kč 400 million,” BSA spokesman Jan Hlaváč said in a press release. “We have successful police enforcement and public education has delivered results. … Moreover, reducing piracy benefits the national economy.”

The most common way to spread pirated software is to buy only one software license and then install the program on multiple computers. “This type of piracy has long been the most common in companies, but is beginning to expand into the household,” Hlaváč said. ‘It is clear that public attitudes are changing; in the past, protecting intellectual property did not have such support.’

Some 72 percent of Czech respondents to a related survey by polling agency Ipsos Public Affairs also released by BSA said they were willing to pay the creators of software for their work and to promote further development, while 75 percent said protecting property rights helped to boost creativity, and 62 percent said protecting copyrights helped the domestic economy. “It is clear that public attitudes are changing; in the past, protecting intellectual property did not have such support,” Hlaváč said.

People also saw a positive value in buying licensed software due to technical support (90 percent), protection from malware (80 percent), reliability (75 percent) and functionality (64 percent).

But large numbers of Czech respondents to the Ipsos survey still had some misconceptions. Some 69 percent said it was acceptable to buy software from an online auction and 54 percent saw no problem with installing software at home on multiple computers with only one license (but only 44 pecent said it was OK to do this at work). Obtaining software online using a peer-to-peer (P2P) network was seen as all right by 45 percent.

Big drop from 1994 rates

In the long-term, pirated software rates have fallen significantly since 1994, when figures were first tracked. Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia had a 66 percent piracy rate then. Among the EU-27, the Czech Republic is now in 11^th place for the third year in a row, while Slovakia is in 15^th place. The highest piracy rates in the EU are in Bulgaria (65 percent), Romania (64 percent) and Greece (59 percent). The only EU countries to see increases in 2010 were Spain, Slovenia and Greece.

One reason for an overall fall in piracy rates is that laptops are taking an increasing market share. “Laptops tend to have more legitimate software bundled with them at the point of sale than do desktops, and they account for an increasing share of the PC market. Laptops represented 46 percent of PCs in use around the world in 2010, up sharply from 35 percent in 2008,” the BSA report stated, adding that “white box” suppliers who build computers from parts and fill them with unlicensed software have seen their market share decline from one-third to one-fifth over the same period.

Stagnation in the EU

But 15 countries in the EU showed no change over the previous year, and the overall rate of 35 percent was also unchanged. The 2010 loss of $13.5 billion, while a year earlier it was $12.5 billion. “"The study finds software piracy rates at a standstill in the EU, and particularly in the larger, western European member states where little progress has been made in the past five years even as the value of stolen software compounds year-on-year,” said Thomas Boué, BSA government affairs manager for Europe. “There have been few strides in recent years in addressing intellectual property protection, and with momentum building, the time is now to take steps to protect Europe’s €715 billion ICT industry and its contributions to the European economy.” ‘We are confident that the European Commission can address this growing problem through aggressive public education.’

The increase in the losses due to piracy has some people calling for stronger action. “Software theft damages the software industry, harms EU economies and stymies EU job creation. We are confident that the European Commission can address this growing problem through aggressive public education and helping the ensure effective enforcement of the legal framework throughout the European single market,” Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of BSA, said in a press release.

Globally, half the areas in the survey had piracy rates higher than 62 percent. The piracy rate dropped in 51 of the 116 geographies studied in 2010 and went up in only 15. “But, crucially, regional average rates rose by 1 point in both Asia-Pacific and Latin America — two economic hotbeds of the developing world,” the report stated.

The BSA study covers 116 countries and regions. The BSA Global Software Piracy Study calculates piracy of all software that runs on personal computers — including desktops, laptops, and ultra-portables, including netbooks, according to the report. It includes operating systems, systems software such as databases and security packages, business applications, and consumer applications such as games, personal finance, and reference software. The study also takes into account the availability of legitimate, free software and open-source software, which is software that is licensed in a way that puts it into the public domain for common use.

BSA is an industry group with a mission to promote conditions where the information technology (IT) industry can thrive and contribute to the prosperity, security, and quality of life of all people, according to its website.

Piracy rates in the EU-27 for 2009 and 2010
	Rank	Year-on-year change (in percent)	2010 (percent)	2009 (percent)	2010 loss (in millions of $)	2009 loss (in millions of $)
Luxembourg	1	-1	20	21	31	30
Austria	2	-1	24	25	209	212
Belgium	3	0	25	25	233	239
Finland	4	0	25	25	193	175
Sweden	5	0	25	25	411	304
Denmark	6	0	26	26	208	203
Germany	7	-1	27	28	2,096	2,023
UK	8	0	27	27	1,846	1,581
Netherlands	9	0	28	28	591	525
Ireland	10	0	35	35	137	125
Czech Republic	11	-1	36	37	195	174
France	12	-1	39	40	2,579	2,544
Portugal	13	0	40	40	228	221
Hungary	14	0	41	41	131	113
Slovakia	14	-1	42	43	63	65
Malta	16	-2	43	45	6	7
Spain	17	1	43	42	1,105	1,014
Slovenia	18	1	47	46	47	39
Cyprus	19	0	48	48	17	16
Italy	20	0	49	49	1,879	1,733
Estonia	21	0	50	50	23	19
Lituania	22	0	54	54	38	31
Poland	23	0	54	54	553	506
Latvia	24	0	56	56	30	24
Greece	24	1	59	58	301	248
Romania	26	-1	64	65	195	183
Bulgaria	27	-1	65	67	113	115
EU 27		0	35	35	13,458	12,469
World		-1	42	43	58,754	51,443
	Source: BSA, IDC

Poll: Ice hockey is Czech ‘national sport’

Raymond Johnston — Fri, 06 May 2011 13:46:19 +0000

Four out of five Czechs consider ice hockey to be the national sport, a poll by the Center for Analysis and Empirical Studies (SANEP) shows. The Czech team is currently competing in the 2011 IIHF World Championships in Slovakia, defending its gold-medal victory in from the previous year in Germany.

“You can say that ice hockey got its loyal supporters and fans through both the current and historical achievements of Czech hockey players, and thanks to icons such as the world leader Jaromír Jágr,” SANEP said in its report. “The global success of Czech hockey players, not only overseas but also on local teams, and the good reputation of our country certainly also play positive roles in the nationwide perception of hockey as the number one national sport.”

Not all of the 81 percent who consider the game to be the “national sport” actually follow it closely. Only 65.1 percent of respondents claim to be fans, and only 38 percent were definite about it — 27.1 percent gave a wimpy “rather yes” answer to the question. Not all fans will be watching the April 29–May 15 world championships, though — just 58.7 percent said they would.

The slightest of majorities — 50.2 percent — said that the Czech team could win again this year, defending their medal, but just over 30 percent felt strongly about it. The independent Czech Republic has won gold six times since Czechoslovakia split in 1993, as well as silver once and bronze three times. Czechoslovakia won six times, the first being in 1947.

More Czech respondents said they “support the national team” than think it will win. A majority of 51.3 percent said “yes” and a further 26.2 percent said “rather yes” to the question. Only 10.3 percent said they did not.

People were less familiar with the exact composition of the team though. More than a third — 34.7 percent — did not know if they agreed with the nomination of players by coach Alois Hadamczik, but only 9.1 percent disagreed. The team includes hockey legend Jaromír Jágr (Avangard Omsk) as well as Roman Červenka (Avangard Omsk), Michael Frolík (Chicago Blackhawks), Tomáš Plekanec (Montreal Canadiens) and Petr Průcha (SKA St. Petersburg).

“Don’t know” at 42.1 percent was also the most popular answer for whether Alois Hadamczik should be the coach of the national team, but 40.3 percent said either “yes or “rather yes.”

Despite a majority saying “yes” or “rather yes” when asked if the Czechs would win, when respondents were given a list of countries and asked to definitely pick the winner, just some 33.9 percent picked the Czech team to be this year’s world champion. That is a notch higher than the 30.4 percent that said “yes” but shows that most of those who said “rather yes” didn't feel so strongly about it and probably ultimately put themselves in the “don’t know” camp. Some 18.9 percent picked Canada and4.8 percent chose Russia.

The poll took place May 1–4, 2011, with 6,391 respondents between the ages of 18 and 69 and results were corrected for demographics. The margin of error was 1.5 percent, according to SANEP.

Poll: Foreigners take Czech jobs, pose a security risk

Raymond Johnston — Thu, 05 May 2011 08:10:56 +0000

A majority of Czechs see substantial drawbacks to having foreigners living in the country, according to polling agency STEM.

Some 70 percent of respondents agreed either strongly or moderately that foreigners deprived Czech people of jobs, while just 4 percent strongly disagreed with that statement. Respondents were more evenly split on whether foreigners are needed at all in the work force, but still not favorable. A minority of 43 percent said that some types of labor could not be done without the help of foreigners; 57 percent said foreigners were not needed to fill gaps in some sectors.

Overall, 31 percent of respondents strongly agreed and a further 44 percent moderately agreed with the statement that there were too many foreigners in the country. This totals 75 percent, substantially higher than the 50 percent result for “too many” recently found in a poll by the Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM), which allowed respondents to choose between “too many,” “reasonable amount” or “too few.”

“Opinions on employing foreigners in [the Czech Republic] have remained unchanged since 2009,” STEM said in press release, adding that there was a significant rise in unemployment due to the economic crisis at that time.

The same poll also found that 61 percent of Czech respondents said that foreign residents living long-term in the country pose a big security risk. A 56 percent majority disagreed with the idea that everyone living in the Czech Republic should eventually be able to get Czech citizenship.

“The question of whether the Czech public is prejudiced or biased toward foreigners living in the Republic divided respondents almost equally into two major camps, with 53 percent saying ‘yes’, and 47 percent saying ‘no,’” STEM said.

The poll took place March 31 to April 8, 2001, with 1,286 respondents above the age of 18.

Learn the language

A separate poll by CVVM showed that 61 percent of Czech respondents felt foreigners living in the Czech Republic should assimilate as much as possible, and a further 34 percent said they should partially adapt. Just 5 percent said they should be able to live according to their own customs.

“University-educated people, people with good living standards and people from the youngest age group were significantly more likely … to say that foreigners should only partially adapt to [Czech] habits,” CVVM analyst Gabriela Šamanová said in the report. Attitudes have been fairly steady since the question was first asked in 2003, when 56 percent said foreigners should try to fully assimilate.

The most important thing a foreigner can do in terms of assimilation is learn to speak Czech, which was cited by 94 percent as either “very important” or “rather important.” Working in the country was named by 83 percent while 61 percent called for familiarity with Czech history and culture. Other factors cited by a majority of Czechs as important signs of assimilation are achieving citizenship, living in the country for at least 10 years and participating in community life.

The poll took place March 7–14 with 1,306 respondents above the age of 15 who answered a standardized questionnaire.

The recently released Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) placed the Czech Republic 19^th out of 31 surveyed countries in Europe and North America. The country had 46 points out of 100; Sweden led with 83 points, and Latvia was last with 31. The index — which is compiled by the British Council in association with think tanks, universities and nongovernmental organizations — measures integration policies based on 148 indicators.

The index pointed out that the Czech Republic is behind other new countries of in dual nationality and birthright citizenship, and that equality policies are still weak. The country was also the last to transpose EU anti-discrimination directives and did poorly in allowing foreigners to participate in political life, tying with Poland for to last place; only Romania did worse. The index stated that “reciprocal” voting rights were ineffective and political liberties were still limited.

The passing af a 2009 Anti-Discrimination Law helped the country to improve its standing by four points, though. “These EU minimum standards improve access to justice for many victims, regardless of nationality or background, and help all residents fully participate in society,” the index said. When survey results were previously released in 2008, the country tied for 17^th place out of 28 countries.

The Czech Republic, which has an overall population of 10.5 million, had 425,167 foreigners legally staying either permanently or temporarily as of the end of March, according to the Ministry of Interior. Ukrainians, Vietnamese and Slovaks were the top three nationalities. The number of foreigners has been dropping since the onset of the economic crisis. There are 5,000 fewer that last year and 18,000 fewer than two years ago.

Czechs still wary of letting in too many foreigners

Raymond Johnston — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 11:10:14 +0000

The predominant view held by Czechs is that there are too many foreigners in the country, and that they should be allowed to stay long-term only under certain conditions.

Some 50 percent of Czech respondents to a poll by the Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM) said that there were too many foreigners currently living in the Czech Republic, while 40 percent said there was a reasonable amount and just 3 percent wanted to see more.

Over time though, this shows a decrease in xenophobia. “Compared with last year, Czech public opinion in this regard has not changed significantly, but compared with 2009 when this question was asked for the first time, the proportion saying that the number of foreigners in this country is excessive fell by 7 percentage points, while the number of people evaluating the quantity of foreigners as ‘reasonable’ increased by 7 percentage points,” CVVM analyst Jan Červenka said in a report. In 2009, just 1 percent said there were too few foreigners.

“The answer that there are ‘too many’ foreigners was more likely to be cited by respondents over 60 years, those who completed high school without a ‘maturita’ certificate, those evaluating their living standard as ‘poor’ or ‘neither good nor bad,’ nonvoters with no party or political preference, and Communist Party (KSČM) supporters. ‘Reasonable’ was a more common answer among those with higher education, a good living standard and supports of the Civic Democrats (ODS) or TOP 09,” Červenka said.

When it comes to granting long-term residency to foreigners, 10 percent of respondents said “not at all” and a further 79 percent said “only under certain conditions.” Just 8 percent said it should be granted without limitations.

Again, the results were close to those from 2010. “Compared with 2003, however, there is a clear decline in people who are totally against long-term residence of foreigners. Consent to unlimited long-term stays by foreigners in the country increases with an improving assessment of the respondent’s own household living standard. The idea that foreigners should never have the right to reside long-term in the Czech Republic was held more by people with basic education, respondents with poor living standards and nonvoters without party affiliation,” Červenka said.

Letting foreigners permanently settle was approved of by 40 percent of respondents, and disapproved of by 54 percent, with 16 percent strongly opposed. This also shows a trend toward a more accepting attitude toward foreigners, as in 2005 some 65 percent of respondents were opposed and 28 percent were in favor.

Almost two-thirds of respondents — 64 percent —said the country should accept a few refugees, with an additional 6 percent saying the country should accept all. Less than a quarter, 23 percent feel that the country should accept none.

“Compared with surveys from 2008 and 2009, there was a slight increase in the proportion of those who think that the Czech Republic should not accept refugees at all, and conversely a decrease in the response that it should only accept some refugees,” Červenka said. Nonvoters with no party preference were most likely to oppose allowing refugees.

The most popular reason for permitting immigrants was study and internships, with 87 percent agreeing either strongly or moderately. Family reunification was named by 83 percent, humanitarian protection by 72 percent and asylum by 55 percent.

A minority of 45 percent favored allowing immigrants as employees, 44 percent would allow entrepreneurs and 39 percent favor settlers.

Slovaks most popular, Roma least

A separate study by CVVM examined attitudes toward 15 specific nationalities or ethnic groups, with Czechs included as a base reference. Slovaks, Poles, Greeks, Jews, Germans, and Bulgarians were seen as sympathetic or likable by a majority of respondents. Hungarians were at exactly 50 percent, while Serbs, Russians, Vietnamese, Romanians, Ukrainians, Albanians and Roma were overall seen in a negative light. ‘People over 60 years of age express less sympathy in relation to the Germans.’

“Compared with the previous year, there was an improvement for Germans, Russians, Albanians, Romanians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Ukrainians and Vietnamese. … Compared to 2009 there was also a marked positive shift for the Roma,” Červenka said in the report.

“More detailed analysis showed that people over 60 years of age express less sympathy in relation to the Germans. People with a basic education but without a ‘maturita’ often feel antipathy toward Roma, while people with higher education show more sympathy toward Ukrainians. People with good living standards showed greater sympathy for Germans, Vietnamese, Romanians, Greeks, Jews and Albanians,” Červenka said.

A long-term analysis from 2005 shows the basic order of which nationalities are seen as most likable staying constant, with the notable exception of Hungarians, who originally ranked in fifth place, but now are in ninth. Germans also overtook Bulgarians for sixth place in the most recent poll.

Both surveys took place March 7–14 with 1,306 respondents over the age of 15 who answered standardized questionnaires.

Czech attitudes toward different groups
	1 (very likable)	Total 1–3 (likable)	4 (neutral)	Total 5–7 (unlikable)	7 (very unlikble)	Average
Czechs	60	96	3	1	0	1.61
Slovaks	45	92	6	2	1	1.89
Poles	17	78	12	9	1	2.69
Greeks	11	63	15	12	2	2.99
Jews	11	60	15	14	4	3.07
Germans	9	57	20	20	4	3.36
Bulgarians	6	51	22	18	2	3.43
Hungarians	6	50	20	22	3	3.53
Serbs	4	39	22	17	6	3.78
Russians	4	44	24	30	6	3.8
Vietnamese	4	44	24	32	8	3.92
Romanians	2	24	24	44	11	4.48
Ukrainians	3	27	21	51	13	4.54
Albanians	2	24	20	44	14	4.56
Roma	1	12	13	74	38	5.49
	Source: CVVM (in percent, except average)

‘Most trusted’ institution is radio, churches come last

Raymond Johnston — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:01:24 +0000

The public institution most trusted by the Czech public is radio, a survey by the Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM) revealed. Since the polling agency split media into multiple categories in 2005, radio has scored highest all but one time, when it was narrowly beaten by television. Surprisingly, the Czech Army and the police both scored higher than print media. In keeping with the Czechs statistical standing as one of the most atheistic countries in Europe, the church was the least trusted.

Two media sources lead public opinion in trusted institutions. Radio was trusted by 67 percent of people while 27 percent of Czech respondents did not trust it. Television came next, with 62 percent trust and 35 percent mistrust. In fifth place, print was trusted by 53 percent and mistrusted by 44 percent. The Internet was not included as a separate medium.

“The credibility [of television, radio and print] continues in a high position, but beginning in 2007, we can see a trend for declining public confidence. The current poll shows an improvement in the standings from last September. The long-term trend shows a sharper decline for print in proportion [to radio and television],” CVVM analyst Daniel Kuňstát said in the report.

The army, police and courts — broken up by the low-ranking print media — makes up the next block of institutions. The army had 56 percent of people stating they trusted it and 32 percent not. It also had the highest level of people saying they “certainly trusted” it, with 11 percent. Radio and TV had 9 percent and 8 percent certain trust, respectively. Police were trusted by 55 percent and courts by 52 percent.

“The development of trust in the army, police and the courts over time is undergoing long-term significant changes. Current public attitudes to all these institutions are considerably more favorable than they were during the mid 1990s. Compared with the September survey, the assessment of the police has not changed, courts have improved slightly, and the army worsened slightly,” Kuňstát said. ‘Current public attitudes to all these institutions are considerably more favorable than they were during the mid 1990s.’

The rest of the institutions covered in the survey all had the confidence of fewer than half of the respondents. Banks were trusted by 49 percent, but mistrusted by 44 percent, so they are still more trusted than mistrusted. There was a similar situation for nonprofit organizations, which had 46 percent trust and 34 percent mistrust. Labor unions also were slightly ahead with 43 percent trust and 37 percent mistrust.

The only institution to have a negative ratio was the church, with 28 percent trust and 56 percent mistrust. It was also the only institution to have an outright majority not trusting it.

“A more detailed analysis showed that the churches and nonprofit organizations, as well as the police and courts are mistrusted by men more often than women. For the church, another important differentiating factor, obviously, is a belief or religious affiliation; a significantly higher proportion of trust appeared among the faithful and especially among Roman Catholics. Banks, courts, police and army are more often mistrusted by people with poor living standards,” Kuňstát said.

The survey took place March 7–14 with 1,306 respondents over the age of 15 who answered a standardized questionnaire.

Poll: Personal gain is prime motivation in politics

Raymond Johnston — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:35:00 +0000

Most Czechs are skeptical of the reasons that politicians go into public service, and very few think that politicans pay any attention to public opinion. The most popular reasons that someone becomes involved in politics are to increase personal wealth or power, respondents to a Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM) poll said.

Some 19 percent of respondents said no politicians at all were concerned with the opinions of ordinary citizens, while 34 percent said that only a slight minority was, and 33 percent said that a strong minority was concerned — totaling some 86 percent of the public showing some degree of skepticism about their leaders’ motives for seeking public office.

None of the respondents said that all politicians were concerned with public opinion, while 2 percent said the vast majority listened to the public and 9 percent said a small majority did, adding up to 11 percent who think most politicians listen to voters.

These results are still an improvement over the poll results for 2009 and 2010, when just 8 and 6 percent had a favorable view, respectively. “Compared with the previous survey, the view that most politicians were interested slightly strengthened and conversely the skeptical attitude slightly weakened. ... Despite this shift, however, the doubtful opinion regarding the interest of elected representatives in people’s views can be considered relatively stable and enduring,” CVVN analyst Paulína Tabery said in the report.

She added that people with higher education and a good standard of living were less skeptical than people with less education and poor living standards.

When asked to choose from a list of reasons that people became involved in politics, the most-favored answer was “to acquire wealth,” with 89 percent of respondents saying it was “certainly important” (60 percent) or “rather important” (29 percent). Next on the list was “to acquire power,” also at 89 percent. Respondents were a hair less emphatic, though, with 59 percent saying it was certainly important.

The ability to influence public affairs was cited by 88 percent, with 36 percent saying it was certainly important. The ability to distinguish oneself was cited by 87 percent. Politics — specifically promoting party aims — ranks fifth place, with 85 percent of people citing it.

Altruistic reasons took the last two spots. The idea that politicians would try to promote their vision of an ideal society was cited by 18 percent as certainly important and 40 percent as rather important. Becoming involved in politics to help solve problems in society was named by just 11 percent as certainly important and 42 percent as rather important.

“Compared to the previous [February 2010] survey, the view that people entered politics for wealth power or recognition strengthened, as is seen in the growth in the firmness of the answers at the extremes. … The opinion that entering politics to help society is not an important motivation increased by 10 percentage points,” Tabery said.

The survey took place Feb, 7–14, 2011, with 1,069 respondents living in the Czech republic aged 15 and older who filled out a standardized questionnaire.

Czech interest in politics waning on all fronts

Raymond Johnston — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 12:42:25 +0000

While a majority of Czechs are interested to some degree in domestic politics, interest falls off sharply for world and especially European Union affairs, a recent poll by poll by the Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM) shows.

Even for domestic politics, though, only a small minority were truly concerned. The poll showed that only 10 percent of Czechs over the age of 15 said they were “greatly interested” while 48 percent were “rather interested.” Another 10 percent were “not at all interested” and 32 percent were “rather interested.”

“More men than women declare an interest in politics in all categories. Interest increases with age, the level of education or improving living standards,” CVVM analyst Jan Čevenka said in the report. “In terms of political orientation, more frequent interest in politics is shown people who are ideologically certain on the right.”

“Respondents who can’t be classified as left or right and those in the center were less interested. In terms of party preferences, a higher interest in politics has always declared supporters of the [center right parties] Civic Democrats (ODS) and TOP 09,” Čevenka said.

Politics in general interested just 46 percent of respondents in total, while a majority of 54 percent declared little or no interest. This fell even more when it came to political events in the world, with just 39 percent showing any level of interest. But by far Czechs consider European Union affairs to be the least worthy of their time. Less than a third — 30 percent — found EU politics to be interesting.

Just 3 percent of Czech people said that they spend any time on involvement with political parties. Of all civic interests covered in the CVVM poll, that was the lowest amount. Involvement with sporting associations was highest, at 25 percent, followed by civic groups at 18 percent and charitable organizations at 10 percent.

Interest in politics has been stagnating or dropping. “In a time comparison, we can see that the current interest in political events beyond our borders, either globally or specifically in the EU is considerably lower than it was six years ago, in February 2005, when the question was asked for the first time. To a lesser extent, the same is also seen interest in politics in our country or the politics in general. Compared to last February, there was no statistically significant shift,” Čevenka said.

The number of people devoting some time to political parties has fallen since 2007, when it was at 7 percent. However, that was true for all categories as time spent on sporting, civic, charitable professional, labor and municipal organizations also fell.

The poll took place Feb. 7–14 among 1,069 czech repsondents who answered a standardized questionnaire.

Interest in politics over time
	Feb. 2005	Feb. 2007	Feb. 2008	Feb. 2009	Feb. 2010	Feb. 2011
Domestic politics	64/36	66/34	64/36	59/41	61/39	58/42
Politics in general	50/50	50/50	47/53	46/53	48/52	46/54
World politics	50/49	44/56	40/59	44/56	40/59	39/60
EU politics	38/61	33/66	32/68	32/68	30/70	30/70
	Source: CVVM (interested/not interested, in percent)

WHO: Czechs second in world in alcohol per capita

Raymond Johnston — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 16:45:08 +0000

The Czech Republic won some dubious recognition for the World Health Organization (WHO). A new report shows that the country has the second-highest per-capita consumption of alcohol in the world, behind Moldova.

The WHO report, which was issued this month but is based on 2005 figures, found that the worldwide average was equivalent to 6.13 liters of pure alcohol per person aged 15 years or more. Europe as region had a higher average, some 12.2 liters, while the Czech Republic topped that with 16.45 liters and Moldova beat all at 18.22 liters. Hungary came in third and Russia was fourth.

The Czech Republic has long been regarded as the global leader in beer consumption, and that was confirmed out by the WHO report. Some 57 percent of the amount of pure alcohol consumed in the Czech Republic comes from beer, while spirits make 24 percent, wine made from grapes makes 16 percent and 3 percent comes from other types of beverages such as fruit wine and rice wine. From beer, Czechs get close to nine liters of pure alcohol per year. Most typical types of beer have an alcohol content of 4 to 6 percent.

Not all countries saw the same breakdown. Moldova was more evenly divided with 36 percent for wine, 33 percent for spirits and 31 percent for beer. The Russian Federation — long regarded at the world’s vodka capital — saw 63 percent from spirits, 33 percent for beer, 3 percent for other beverages and just 1 percent for wine.

Not all stereotypes were confirmed by the WHO report. Italy, for example, did see 73 percent of its alcohol consumption come from wine, but at 10.7 liters per capita it was well below the European average — not one of the leaders.

The WHO report did not make light of the figures. “Alcohol consumption is the world’s third-largest risk factor for disease and disability; in middle-income countries, it is the greatest risk. Alcohol is a causal factor in 60 types of diseases and injuries and a component cause in 200 others,” the report stated. “Almost 4 percent of all deaths worldwide are attributed to alcohol, greater than deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, violence or tuberculosis. Alcohol is also associated with many serious social issues, including violence, child neglect and abuse, and absenteeism in the workplace.”‘Every fifth death is due to harmful drinking in the Commonwealth of Independent States.’

Europe was singled out as a region for its high alcohol consumtion rate. “The world’s highest alcohol consumption levels are found in the developed world, including Western and Eastern Europe. … Western European countries have some of the highest consumption rates, but their net alcohol-attributable mortality rates are relatively low, though their alcohol-related disease burden may be high,” the report said.

“Many Eastern European countries have the highest consumption, risky patterns of drinking and, accordingly, high levels of alcohol-related deaths and disabilities. Every fifth death is due to harmful drinking in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),” the report said, adding that Mexico and South America also had high rates of alcohol-related disease and disability. Three out of four countries that have a dedicated line item in their national budgets for alcohol treatment were in Eastern Europe: Croatia, Moldova and Ukraine. The fourth was Israel.

Czech men drink twice as much as women

For the Czech Republic, overall alcohol consumption has been rising slightly since the 1960s, although the years between 2000 and 2005 are classified as “stable.” Men have proven to be much heavier drinkers than women. Some 6.3 percent of women were classified as lifetime abstainers, while only 2.8 percent of men were. Women also had a higher percentages of former drinkers and people who had been abstinent for at least a year.

Among Czech drinkers, men consumed 26.59 liters of pure alcohol per capita per year, and women less than half of that — 12.36 liters. More than one-third of drinking Czech men — 34.4 percent — were classified as “heavy episodic drinkers” consuming at least 60 grams of pure alcohol each week, compared with only 6 percent of drinking women.

One a scale of one to five, with five being the most risky drinking patterns in terms of causing disease, Czechs scored a three. Liver cirrhosis was responsible for deaths in 26.6 men and 9.3 women per 100,000 people in 2005 in the Czech Republic, the WHO report stated. “Most alcohol-related deaths ... result from injuries, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and liver cirrhosis. Globally, 6.2 percent of all male deaths are related to alcohol, compared to 1.1 percent of female deaths,” the report said.

Top alcohol consuming countries
	Liters	Beer %	Wine %	Spirits %	Other %
Moldova	18.22	31	36	33	0
Czech Republic	16.45	57	16	24	3
Hungary	16.27	35	40	24	1
Russia	15.76	33	1	63	3
Ukraine	15.60	32	7	61	1
Estonia	15.57	34	7	57	2
Andorra	15.48	31	44	25	0
Romania	15.30	39	22	39	0
Slovenia	15.19	39	48	13	0
Belarus	15.13	20	9	43	28
Croatia	15.11	37	47	15	1
Lithuania	15.03	45	14	36	5
Portugal	14.55	31	55	10	4
Ireland	14.41	53	20	19	8
Denmark	13.37	45	39	16	0
UK	13.37	43	30	21	6
Poland	13.25	56	13	31	0
Slovakia	13.33	49	15	36	0
Austria	13.24	53	32	13	2
Luxembourg	13.01	14	70	16	0
	Source: WHO, based on liters of pure alcohol

Poll: People not willing to bet on Sazka’s Hušák

Raymond Johnston — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:29:56 +0000

Lottery operator Sazka, which has been dealing with financial difficulties for several years, has only its own management to blame, according to the vast majority of respondents to a poll by the Center for Analysis and Empirical Studies (SANEP).

People aren’t just dissatisfied. They say the current CEO of Sazka, Aleš Hušák, should resign from his post, as should Pavel Kořan, the head of the Czech Association of Physical Education (ČSTV), who has long been a Hušák supporter.

“For most respondents, Sazka is an untrustworthy company, and the way it is led by Hušák threatens the existence of sports associations,” SANEP said in its report. Sazka is legally required to support sports associations from its profits, but the massive debt that the company accrued from building Sazka Arena (now O2 Arena) in 2004 has cut into the amount of money that the associations receive.

Penta Investments and E-Invest reached a deal on Feb. 7 to rescue Sazka, which was on the verge of economic collapse after missing a payment on a bond. So far, Hušák has held his position as the head of Sazka. Before the deal was sealed, real estate tycoon Radovan Vítek had been acquiring some of Sazka’s multibillion crown debt and seeking to force the company into bankruptcy. Financier Karel Komárek had also been interested in acquiring an interest in Sazka.

In mid-January, credit ratings company Standard & Poor’s reduced Sazka’s rating from ‘CC’ to ‘D’; S&P also cut the rating in mid-December 2010. The SANEP poll took place took place between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4, when the deal to save Sazka was finalized.

“The overwhelming majority of respondents (70.9 percent) agree with the Minister of Education, Youth and Sports Josef Dobeš, who believes that the situation of indebted lottery firm Sazka and hence the lack of funding for Czech sports is not only due to Sazka CEO Hušák but also because of the passive stance of representatives of sports associations,” SANEP said. In total, only 8 percent disagreed with that statement.

When it comes to whether the Minister of Education Dobeš (Public Affiars, VV) should become involved in the operation of Sazka and the resolution of its problems, people were divided with the largest number — 32.2 percent — saying they didn’t know. A “moderate yes” got 26.3 percent and an unqualified “yes” got 25.4 percent, making a slim majority of 51.7 percent. Only 16.1 percent did not want the minister to take action. Exactly 50 percent of people say that funding for Czech sports should be more of a priority for the government of Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats, ODS), while 29.8 percent disagreed.

Respondents were harsher on Hušák when it came whether he could be trusted. Just short of half — 49.5 percent — said strongly that he was not, and an additional 19.9 percent felt that he was fairly untrustworthy, totaling 69.4 percent. Altogether only 8.5 percent said he had any degree of trustworthiness.

People were also eager for Hušák to resign, with 46.9 strongly supporting the idea and 23.8 percent rather agreeing, totaling 70.7 percent. Again, just 8.5 percent wanted him to stay. ČSTV head Pavel Kořan also should step down, according to 64.8 percent (with 8.8 percent disagreeing). If Hušák remains at the company’s head, moe than two-fifths say it could mean the end of Czech sporting associations.

Some 53.8 percent said there was a strong or moderate possibility that Hušák could be intending to “tunnel” Sazka, or strip it of its remaining assets, while 17.6 percent said there wasn’t.

Sakza as a company fared a little better but still received the scorn of a majority of the public, with 56.1 percent finding the lottery company to be untrustworthy and 25.4 percent disagreeing. People split on whether sports associations should be the only shareholders, with 39.4 percent saying they should not and 27 percent saying they should. More than a third of people had no opinion.

As for who is accountable for Sazka’s indebtedness, just over two-fifths of respondents hold all the leaders of sports associations, which are the major Sazka shareholders, responsible, while slightly more thana quarter held Hušák, who has been general manager of the firm since 1995, to blame. Less than one-tenth hold the ČSTV responsible. Slightly more than two-thirds of repsondents said that Sazka and its main shareholder, ČSTV, were more concerned with their own financial benefit than funding sports.

The polling took place between Jan. 31 and Feb. 4, with 5,709 respondents between 18 and 69 years of age. The margin of error was 1.5 percent.

Tourism recovers in 2010 but less than global average

Raymond Johnston — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:11:26 +0000

In 2010 the total number of guests using accommodation facilities increased by 1.9 percent and the number of overnight stays increased by 0.4 percent compared to the previous year, according to the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). This reverses a recent trend, as 2008 and ’09 saw falling numbers in both categories.

The tourism industry was hit hard by the recession, which caused many people to reduce unnecessary spending, according to industry analysts.

Preliminary figures show a total of 12.21 million guests used accommodation facilities in the Czech Republic in 2010, up from 11.99 million the previous year. There were 6.34 million nonresident and 5.87 million resident guests in 2010, and the total number of overnight stays for both categories was 36.81 million. The growth was driven by foreign guests, whose arrivals rose 5.0 percent and their number of overnight stays went up by 3.5 percent.

In contrast, there were fewer domestic guests in collective accommodation establishments, down 1.3 percent, and their number of overnight stays decreased by 2.5 percent. “Czech tourists are losing interest [in domestic travel],” Tomio Okamura, vice president and spokesman of the Association of Tour Operators and Travel Agencies of the Czech Republic (AČCKA), told Czech Position.

The recovery in foreign tourism figures isn’t as strong as it might have been. “The Czech Republic saw a rise in the number of [foreign] tourists last year, but it was below the worldwide average,” Okamura said. Globally, tourism by nonresidents was up 7 percent according to World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) figures.

The number of foreign guests increased the most in Prague, by 7.8 percent, but other parts of the country suffered. “Although the crisis in the world last year has passed and people started to travel again, some regions experienced large declines in the number of foreign tourists,” Okamura said, pointing out that the Liberec, Ústí nad Labem and Moravia-Silesia regions did particularly poorly and half of the regions saw a decline.

“The absolute leader in terms of total numbers, Prague, received 65 percent of all foreign tourists. The gap between Prague and the regions increased, since previously only 63 percent of visitors went to Prague. These figures show … that Czech regions are still unable able to offer a really attractive high standard of service and socio-cultural activities,” Okamura said, pointing out that it was unusual in western countries for the capital to have such a large percentage of the country’s tourism.

High-end hotels see strong Q4 growth

For the fourth quarter of 2010, the number of overnight stays in collective accommodation establishments totaled 6.9 million; this was by 3.4 percent more than in the same period of the previous year. As for residents, there was a slight decrease by 0.1 percent in accommodation establishments; the number of stays by nonresidents went up by 6.0 percent in Q4 compared to the same period of the previous year. ‘A remarkable year-on-year growth was recorded in hotels, in particular in upper categories.’

“A remarkable year-on-year growth [in overnight stays] was recorded in hotels, in particular in upper categories — five-star hotels by 17.7 percent and four-star hotels by 9.2 percent. In boarding houses, there was a decrease of the number of overnight stays by 11.4 percent there,” the ČSÚ said in a press relase.

“From a regional point of view, the highest increase was shown by accommodation establishments in Prague (by 9.8 percent), then in the South Moravia region (by 4.3 percent) and the Olomouc region (by 2.8 percent); in contrast the highest decrease was in the Liberec region (by 10.1 percent),” the statisticians said. High-end hotels have been faring better than lower end ones throughout the economic downturn.

A total of 2.5 million guests arrived at establishments that are tracked by the ČSÚ in Q4 2010; this was a 4.4 percent increase over Q4 2009. The number of nonresidents went up by 6.3 percent; and for the first time since Q3 2009 the number of residents increased as well, by 2.0 percent. ‘Guests from Russia arrived by 43.9 percent more, and they formed the second largest group of foreign tourists in terms of numbers.’

“In spite of the fact that the highest number of foreign guests was from Germany as usual (330,713); this was 3.3 percent fewer year-on-year. In contrast guests from Russia arrived by 43.9 percent more, and they formed the second largest group of foreign tourists in terms of numbers (105,774). From the top 10 countries from which the most foreign guests come, a remarkably high increase was shown by tourists from the US (by 17.0 percent), Slovakia (by 15.2 percent) and France (by 13.5 percent); on the contrary guests from Spain came by 13.6 percent less,” the ČSÚ said

Spa accommodation establishments saw 157,114 guests in Q4 2010; this was up 2.4 percent year-on-year. The number of residents went up by 6.1 percent; in contrast 1.2 percent fewer nonresidents arrived.

But foreign guests tended to stay longer than they did last year. The structure of the number of overnight stays saw a decrease of domestic visitors by 0.1 percent; in contrast there was an increase of foreign guests by 1.5 percent.

Foreign (nonresident) guests and overnight stays
		2st quarter 2010	3nd quarter 2010	4rd quarter 2010	Index Q410 compared to Q409	Index from the beginning of 2010
Number of guests		1,708,769	2,065,746	1,466,195	106.3	105.0
1.	Germany	361,195	398,148	330,713	96.7	96.9
2.	Russia	104,402	124,870	105,774	143.9	126.6
3.	United Kingdom	93,630	106,578	94,558	98.9	99.1
4.	Slovakia	82,825	90,792	77,044	115.2	107.2
5.	Italy	88,042	98,819	72,339	94.2	93.1
6.	USA	92,969	117,462	67,168	117.0	113.3
7.	Poland	101,444	117,295	62,513	103.0	102.9
8.	France	77,312	76,537	58,215	113.5	112.3
9.	Austria	49,791	56,988	52,621	110.6	107.2
10.	Spain	50,185	80,435	35,678	86.4	101.0
Number of overnight stays		4,801,053	6,005,874	4,155,518	106.0	103.5
1.	Germany	1,196,392	1,343,939	1,087,026	94.0	95.1
2.	Russia	547,254	585,096	542,238	145.3	125.4
3.	United Kingdom	231,130	275,539	236,941	96.2	96.6
4.	Italy	244,961	279,536	191,371	96.6	93.6
5.	USA	244,739	311,839	178,701	120.7	110.4
6.	France	201,584	202,173	148,736	113.5	114.3
7.	Slovakia	159,922	208,475	146,062	117.2	107.3
8.	Poland	186,891	236,380	123,575	103.0	103.0
9.	Austria	101,446	114,851	108,646	111.9	107.8
10.	Netherlands	136,049	287,211	104,944	96.7	88.8
	Source: ČSÚ