On Wednesday 23 July 2025, the government of Petro Fiala held its last scheduled meeting before the government recess. The cabinet dealt with, among other things, several changes in secondary and primary education, discussed a report summarising the activities of members of the Central Crisis Staff during the crisis situation that arose in the Czech Republic last September due to devastating floods, and approved a new waste management plan for the next eleven years. Prime Minister Petr Fiala also reported on the results of his talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on plans to build a modern rail link between the two countries.
The Czech Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany are to be connected by a new high-speed railway line in the near future. The implementation of this project was one of the topics of the meeting between Prime Minister Petr Fiala and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday.
"We discussed a number of issues with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and in addition to security issues, we also talked about the development of transport infrastructure, which is important for relations and trade between the two countries. I am pleased that the Chancellor sees the situation in the same way, that we need to improve the transport infrastructure, especially in rail transport, because we need fast connections between the Czech Republic and Germany." stated Prime Minister Petr Fiala and recalled the recent decision of the Government to approve the draft contract for the construction of the Krušnohorský Tunnel, which will be one of the key elements of the planned high-speed line Prague-Dresden.
"I was assured by the Chancellor yesterday that the German government is also going to approve the treaty as soon as possible. This is important, because when this construction is finished, the journey from Prague to Berlin will take two hours instead of the current four hours, and the project is of major importance not only for our two countries, but actually for better connecting Europe," the Prime Minister noted.
The government dealt with a proposal by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to amend several government regulationswhich build on the already approved changes to the Education Act and on the government's efforts to modernise and streamline Czech secondary education. For example, it agreed that students in health-related higher vocational education would not have to take those years of higher vocational education for which they could prove that the content corresponded to the content of their previous education, or that the possibility of fulfilling the profile part of the matriculation examination by preparing a comprehensive profile paper would be extended to all fields of education, with the exception of conservatory education.
The amended government regulations also set rules for funding psychologists, special educators or social educators in primary and secondary schools and conservatories, or determine how many hours of instruction the state will reimburse primary school founders for teaching assistants for first-year students, which is related to the tightening of the rules for recognizing the deferral of the start of school.
The Cabinet also discussed a report from the Ministry of the Interior summarising the activities of members of the Central Crisis Staff during last year's devastating floods. The document states, among other things, that thanks to the timely warning of meteorologists against torrential rainfall, the rapid response of the relevant state authorities and the better preparedness of the integrated rescue system, the damage to property caused by the September 2024 flood was lower than in the comparably devastating floods of 1997 and there was also less loss of human life. The analysis concludes that the cooperation of the integrated rescue system components, state authorities and local governments was at a high and professional level post crisis, yet there were several partial shortcomings that the members of the Central Crisis Staff suggested to eliminate.
The government also approved a new Waste Management Plan of the Czech Republic until 2035. The basic strategic document in the area of waste management reflects commitments to Czech and EU legislation, which relate, for example, to the fundamental reduction of landfilling. It is based on the principles of sustainable development and circular economy, it is based on the prevention of waste generation and optimisation of its subsequent use.
The government also approved a strategy for the use of biomethane and geothermal energy. The Ministry of the Environment, together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, has prepared an action plan for the development of biomethane in the Czech Republic by 2030, which, for example, envisages the construction of at least 100 biomethane stations by 2029. The strategy also includes an action plan for the development of the use of low-potential renewable and waste heat in central heat supply, which aims to increase the use of heat from industrial processes or data centres and to promote the increased use of geothermal energy. Increased use of these sources will further increase the Czech Republic's energy security and reduce our dependence on imported fossil fuels.
The government also agreed on the next step in transformation of the National Development Bank. It approved the transfer of the shares of the National Development Bank previously held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Regional Development to the Ministry of Finance, which held the remaining one-third of the shares. This will consolidate the state's shareholding rights in the NRB under one ministry, which is not a major client of the bank and thus does not have a potential conflict of interest. The gratuitous transfer of shares will take place by 31 August.
The Cabinet also decided on Increase in electronic toll rates for the use of motorways and class I roads with effect from 1 January 2026. The increase in the toll component, which is levied to recover the costs incurred on toll roads, will not apply to buses and other vehicles carrying passengers. The increase in the part of the toll to recover the cost of CO2 applies to toll roads of the first class, where this rate will be unified with motorways. The extra money collected will be used primarily to construct, repair, maintain or manage highways or roads.
The government also discussed timetable for further digitisation of services. The timetable summarises which services of state institutions have already been digitised, which will be digitised by 2029 and sets uniform rules for deciding which services will be excluded from the digitisation process as a disproportionate burden due to the inefficiency of this step.
The Government also approved the request of the Governor of the Olomouc Region for prolonging the state of danger in the vicinity of Hustopece nad Bečvou The reason for this is the need to continue the remediation work after the train crash with toxic benzene as efficiently and quickly as possible, while preventing unauthorised persons from entering the affected area.
The cabinet meeting was preceded by a meeting of the Committee on the European Union at government level. Minister of Defence Jana Černochová informed the Government about the intention to to use a loan from the EU's SAFE instrument 52 billion crowns for the project to buy Leopard 2A8 tanks in cooperation with Germany. The SAFE instrument, approved in May this year in response to the deteriorating security situation in Europe, will allow loans to be granted to Member States, guaranteed by the EU budget, up to a maximum of €150 billion in total for the purpose of joint procurement of military equipment from the European defence industry.
Government.cz/gnews.cz - GH
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