The coalition experts will still negotiate about the construction amendment

Prague - Experts from the government parties will negotiate the amendment to the Building Act, which is supposed to simplify and expedite the approval of constructions, before the final vote in the Chamber of Deputies. They are supposed to resolve contentious points so that the legislation has sufficient support. Prime Minister and head of the ČSSD Bohuslav Sobotka told journalists this after a meeting of the coalition council today.

The amendment was prepared by the Ministry for Regional Development, which is administered by the ANO movement. The Ministry of Agriculture, which belongs to the Christian Democrats, has reservations regarding certain provisions. The KDU-ČSL (Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party) wanted to discuss the Building Act today. According to Sobotka, both ministries have "competency disputes".

"The Minister of Agriculture (Marian Jurečka) does not like that the water law process should also be merged into one process. We insist on that," stated the head of the ANO MPs, Jaroslav Faltýnek. According to him, the regulation will significantly expedite, for example, the construction of roads and highways.

Before the final vote, coalition experts will discuss the amendment and resolve any potential contentious points. "We have a strong interest in completing the discussed amendment to the Building Act, so that it brings acceleration and simplification of approval processes in our country... The worst thing that could happen would be if the amendment does not have sufficient support and falls under the table. The goal is to bring the negotiations to a close and not to make any mistakes," stated Sobotka.

According to the government, the amendment should simplify the rules and expedite the approval process. The territorial and building proceedings should be unified with the environmental impact assessment (EIA) into one process. The result should be a single permit. The deadlines for court reviews of lawsuits against the proposed building solution should also be shortened.