photo: anobudelip.cz
The Prime Minister is witnessing the biggest disaster since the revolution, brought about by the implementation of public services. This disaster is called the "Digital Building Permit System" by Minister Ivan Bartoš. This completely flawed project has paralyzed building authorities and is daily hindering investments worth 770 million crowns.
Karel Havlíček, Chairman of the Shadow Cabinet
The government's Titanic is sinking, and Petr Fiala is speaking incoherently about how the situation is exceptionally good. Josef Síkela has understood the direction of the wind and is steering the single lifeboat towards the European coast. The Pirates are dancing innocently on the deck. I am talking about the implementation of the building code.
Let's recap how things have unfolded. In 2020 and 2021, the government of Andrej Babiš prepared the building code. It was thoroughly discussed with experts, reviewed, and approved. It was valid from 2022 and was enacted by a law in 2021. In 2022, the government of Petr Fiala rejected this law and introduced its own version, despite warnings from the expert community. At the same time, all tenders for the digitalization of building permits were canceled, and everything started from scratch.
Ivan Bartoš is not the only culprit. Martin Kupka, representatives of the STAN party, and others were also involved in these changes. This caused a one-year delay. It was supposed to come into effect on July 1, 2024, for the general public. It was clear that this could not end well, and that is why we warned about it for several months. The Office for the Protection of Competition confirmed that the digital solution was procured in a non-transparent manner. Of course, the Pirates were involved. The expert community warned against its launch, and even the President warned.
Despite this, it was launched, and it is the biggest failure in the history of implementing public services since the revolution. Nothing is working. Designers, construction workers, developers, investors, mayors, and officials are frustrated, and they call it a mess. Some of them want to go on strike. Economic associations are also united in their opposition.
Permits are not being issued. Mayors are reporting a collapse of building authorities. Officials have not been adequately trained. It is impossible to issue or approve permits. Furthermore, the fees have changed. For example, a well now costs 10,000 crowns. It is not true, as Bartoš claims, that the change in fees was part of the law we prepared. This government introduced this change as part of an amendment to the law on administrative fees in 2023.
Bartoš is playing the role of a complete scapegoat and claims that the fault lies with the authorities. The Prime Minister is trying to silence the whole issue. Our government will not conduct any further experiments and will reintroduce the main parameters of our prepared law. Unfortunately, the damage caused by this government will be irreversible. We have lost four years.
Martin Kolovratník, Shadow Minister of Transport
Digitalization, as implemented by this government, is a return to typewriters. I feel like this is all a computer game. The recodification of the building code was submitted with a bow in the summer of 2021. At that time, we calculated that everything would need to be prepared within two years. We knew that it could be done, but it would take two years. This government destroyed and rewrote the entire law. We are now in the situation we are in.
The building permit offices are experiencing issues with data entry for other parties involved in the permitting process. There is no automatic connection to map data, and officials lack integration with relevant state authorities. Officials have to manually compile the necessary information. It is impossible to open attachments containing project documentation. A particularly serious problem is that when an official tries to generate a final document, it often generates a document containing randomly inserted words, and this cannot be edited retroactively.
We urge Bartoš to resign, and Prime Minister Fiala to stop being silent and finally take action. He should do the same as he did during the energy crisis, when a team was formed within the Government Office to address the problem. Fiala should take the same approach with the digitalization of the building permit process.
Kamal Farhan, Shadow Minister of Health
I would like to comment on the ongoing shortage of medications in the Czech market. Firstly, some essential medications, such as antibiotics, are still unavailable. Secondly, Germany is preparing to make large purchases of medications, aiming to increase its reserves to cover six months of demand. This represents the consumption of five Central European countries. The German market's consumption, plus the need for a six-month supply, accounts for a quarter of pharmaceutical sales in the European Union. Pharmaceutical companies will not be able to increase production capacity.
Austria has also started purchasing medications, aiming to have a four-month supply. Poland has a reserve for three months.
The "Válka" amendment does not address the problem. It has become clear how false the statements of Minister Válka were. According to him, this is the largest reform of pharmaceutical legislation. However, it is only eight pages long, and everything he had been preparing for a year was changed by a complex amendment that was longer than the proposed amendment itself.
It's the same as if he expected the weather to solve the situation. If Germany creates the mentioned reserves, it will affect our market, and the minister is enjoying his government holiday. Instead of taking action, Válka is doing nothing. Suppliers are exploiting loopholes that this law allows. One of these loopholes is that the shortage of medications can only be reported on the day of the shortage in exceptional cases.
I repeatedly pointed this out during the debate, and Válka remained silent during the parliamentary debate. Our Minister of Health is not concerned about the problems and prefers to present visions and comment on foreign policy. This is a hallmark of TOP 09, and it shows how bad it is that the Prime Minister has friends from Brno in his government.
Jana Mračková Vildumetzová, Shadow Minister of the Interior
I would like to comment on the digitalization of the building permit process. I would like to call on regional governors and other organizations, such as the association of towns and municipalities, or the association of local governments, because I currently see that these are the organizations that defend the interests of mayors within the regional authorities. They are the appellate body, where the Association of Regions is involved. If such a situation arises, I would immediately convene the association and address the issue.
We will find out after 25 days that it probably doesn't work. Although the Minister told us in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies that everything would be fine, and that everything would be functional on July 1st. These organizations should also express their opinions and should start fighting to improve the situation as soon as possible.
Another topic is the Czech Post, which, under the leadership of Minister Rakusan, is in such a state that a year has passed since July 1st, when 300 branches were closed without any analysis. He simply decided to do it. Rakusan told us that this is not a transformation of the Czech Post, that the transformation is yet to come, and that the post will be divided into two sectors: one for postal services and the other for commercial activities, including logistics and parcel services.
We were told that the transformation of the Czech Post would take place on April 1st, then on July 1st. Today is the end of July, and we have not approved any legislation that would enable the transformation, and no transformation is currently underway. Only the closure of those 300 branches has occurred, and in some cases, the buildings are falling into disrepair.
These buildings have not been sold, and there are no interested buyers. We are also learning from local officials that so-called mobile post offices are starting to appear, which would only visit a given town or municipality once a week or on some other schedule. The opening hours are changing, and in some cases, the post office is closed on certain days. These are the things that are not helping the quality and accessibility of postal services.
We suggested following the "Post Partner" model, which is used in Austria, where parcel services and logistics would be separated. There would be fewer services for citizens, and if I were in charge of a city, I would try to find a business project that would take over the post office and its services. It's sad that this works in neighboring countries, but in our country, it's going in the opposite direction, with layoffs of postal workers and the purchase of new vehicles. And then you see that the supervisory board is still the same, with the same number of people. Why weren't there fewer representatives on the board? Because membership on the supervisory board comes with a reward.
I will be sending a letter to the minister with many questions, for example, I want to see the resolution where the government approved the transformation of the Czech Post. When you look at it, you'll see that the government did not approve it, but only took note of it. Then I want to see the law that addresses the transformation of the Czech Post. Why isn't it in the legislative text, and why isn't it being commented on? Then I want to know the numbers on how many buildings have been sold, because the information we are receiving indicates a very small number.
When the branches were closed last year on July 1st, there were many contracts involved, and I was interested in what the financial impact was on the Czech Post, and how much was paid in contractual penalties. We also want to know what the Czech Post's debt is. We, in the Chamber of Deputies, have insisted that the National Audit Office conduct an audit of the post office, and I am curious to know if that audit is taking place. In my opinion, it is not taking place, and I am curious why. We can see how things are being managed. The post office should primarily serve our citizens, and for Mr. Rakusan, citizens are clearly not a priority.
You can watch the entire press conference here.
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