Czech Republic
- Castle Karlstejn in the Czech Republic (Photo: European Commission)
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic has a population of 10.47 million and an area of 78,866 km2. An EU member state from 1 May 2004. Has had a Europe agreement since 1995.
The Nice Summit in 2000 had offered the Czechs two fewer seats in the European Parliament than Belgium and Portugal, although the Czech Republic has more inhabitants than either. The figures were heavily criticised by the European Parliament. Subsequently at the Copenhagen Summit in 2002 the number of Czech seats in the European Parliament was increased by two.
The Czech Republic was the last country to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. President Vaclav Klaus signed the Treaty on 3 November 2009 after having obtained a Czech opt-out from the Charter of Fundamental Rights and a political guarantee for Czech property covered by the post-war Benes decrees.
Links
See under Benes Decrees and Lisbon Treaty.
http://www.psp.cz/cgi-bin/eng/
http://www.europarl.eu.int/enl......w/applicants/czech_home_en.htm
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/czech/index.htm
