(Repeats story published late on Monday)
July 12 (Reuters) - Czech centre-right parties signed a
coalition agreement on Monday, promising budget discipline and to
fight corruption. []
Following are main points from the agreement signed by the
right-of-centre Civic Democrats, the conservative TOP09 and the
centrist Public Affairs party:
BUDGET:
* Balance the budget by 2016, provided that the economy
grows. The deficit should be reduced to the EU-limit of 3
percent of GDP by 2013 at the latest from 5.3 percent planned
for this year.
* Adopt a constitutional law on budget discipline "to set
brakes and barriers to expansive budget policy"
* Establish a national budget council to monitor spending
and assess the impact of proposed bills on the budget.
* Main savings measures for 2011:
- A 10 percent across-the-board cut in most operating
spending, including the sum for state workers' wages, excluding
teachers. This should bring 31 billion crowns ($1.54 billion).
Cut wages of senior public officials and lawmakers by 5 percent.
- Cut debt servicing costs by 4 billion crowns versus the
present Finance Ministry projection
- Cut the annual state subsidy on housing construction
savings by half to 1,500 crowns per person per year. This should
save about 7 billion crowns.
- Cut social benefits for the poorest, reduce maternity
leave, tighten unemployment benefits, extend the period over
which an employer pays for sickness leave for an employee. This
should bring 11 billion crowns.
PENSION REFORM
* Build on conclusions of an expert commission which
recommended introducing a compulsory pension savings scheme to
complement the current system in which wage earners pay the
state which distributes money directly to current pensioners.
[]
* The coalition has agreed that any privatisation revenue
and dividends from state-held firms will go toward paying for
the switch to a partially savings-based system.
OTHER ECONOMIC ISSUES:
* No euro adoption target date. Like most European
countries, the Czech Republic does not meet the 3 percent budget
deficit limit but it meets the debt criterion, which the
majority of the existing euro zone members do not.
The government will set a euro adoption target date only "if
the common European currency develops as a meaningful and
sustainable project... and agreed rules are met also by
countries within the euro zone", the accord said.
* Amend the Labour code to make it easier to hire and fire
* No big privatisation plans
EUROPEAN UNION
* Reject approval of national budgets at the EU level as
proposed by some European politicians.
* Push for further enlargement of the European Union, with
the focus on southeastern Europe
HEALTHCARE
* Define standard care covered by insurance and a paid
above-standard treatment. Allow commercial insurance to cover
above-standard care.
* Scrap a 30 crown fee for every prescribed drug and pay a
single 30 crown fee for each whole prescription. Patients will
have to pay themselves for a range of cheap drugs.
* Raise the fee for a hospital stay to at least 100 crowns
per day from 60 crowns now
* Keep a 30 crown fee for visiting a doctor, raise the fee
paid for visiting a specialist doctor without first visiting a
general practitioner
EDUCATION
* Introduce a tuition fee of up to 20,000 crowns a year as
of 2013/14. The payment will be due only once students graduate
and their wage rises above the national average.
* Transfer 2.1 billion crowns from the defence budget to
raise salaries of new teachers.
ENERGY
* Support construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline aimed at
bringing Caspian gas to Europe, to diversify energy resources
and dilute dependence on Russia
* Support enlargement of the Temelin nuclear power plant and
modernisation of the Dukovany nuclear plant, both run by
majority state-owned power firm CEZ <>
* Maintain existing territorial limits on brown coal mining
OTHER ISSUES
* Change the constitution to allow for a direct presidential
election as of 2013.
* Narrow the immunity of law makers from prosecution.
(Compiled by Jana Mlcochova; editing by David Stamp)
