The foreign Researcher's Guide to - EURAXESS Czech Republic

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Language & Political system
Official language – Czech
The Czech language belongs to the group of Slavic languages.
From another perspective, Czech is an inflectional
language, which means that the words „inflect“ (their en-
dings change). The meaning a given word has in a sentence
is primarily determined by this inflection.
The Czech constitutional order equally divides powers: legislative, executive, and
judiciary.
According to the Constitution of the Czech Republic, the
legislature is represented by the Parliament. It consists of
two chambers: the lower (the Chamber of Deputies; 200
seats, members are elected by popular vote to serve four-
-year terms), and upper (the Senate; 81 seats, members
are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms, one-
-third elected every two years).
The executive in the Czech Republic is represented by President
and Government consisting of Prime Minister and
Ministers, and is the supreme branch.
Members of Government are heading the following ministries:
Transport, Finance, Culture, Defence, Labour and
Social Affairs, Regional Development, Industry and Trade,
Justice, Education, Youth and Sports, Interior, Foreign Affairs,
Health, Agriculture and Environment.
Next to the legislative and executive powers, the judicial
power is the third separated pillar of power. Judicial power
is, on behalf of the Republic, executed by independent
courts. Impartiality and independence of judges must not
be jeopardized in any way.
President Vaclav KLAUS (since February 2008) was elected
by the Parliament for his second five-year term. (The Czech
Republic’s first president, Vaclav HAVEL, stepped down from
office on 2nd February 2003 having served exactly 10 years.)
Economy
The Czech Republic is one of the most stable and prosperous of the post-Communist
states of Central and Eastern Europe.
Growth in 2000-08 was supported by exports to the EU, primarily
to Germany, and a strong recovery of foreign and
domestic investment. Domestic demand is playing an ever
more important role in undergirding growth as interest rates
drop and the availability of credit cards and mortgages
increases. Current account deficits of around 5% of GDP
are beginning to decline as demand for Czech products in
the European Union increases. Inflation is under control.
Recent accession to the EU gives further impetus and direction
to structural reform. Privatization of state-owned
telecommunications firm Cesky Telecom took place in
2005. Intensified restructuring among large enterprises,
improvements in the financial sector, and effective use of
available EU funds should further strengthen the output
growth.
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