Prague - The Prague building regulations, which were approved by the city council in July, are, according to the Ministry for Regional Development, in violation of the law. The ministry will urge Prague to rectify this. If the city does not amend the regulations, the ministry will suspend their validity. This was reported today by the office spokesperson Radka Burketová. Mayor Tomáš Hudeček (TOP 09) told ČTK that this is an election campaign struggle. Due to the regulations, which, among other things, regulate the size of advertisements in the city from the beginning of October, a sharp dispute has erupted in recent weeks between Prague and the advertising company Bigmedia. According to the ministry, Prague erred by not requesting notification from the European Commission prior to the approval of the regulations. Hudeček disagrees with this, stating that based on the city's legal analyses, no notification is necessary. "We consider the sudden call from the ministry as purposeful," he stated. Prague has not yet received a call from the ministry. The director of the ministry's building regulations department, Marcela Pavlová, noted that from the day of delivery, the city will have 60 days to remedy the situation. According to the regulations, new free-standing billboards will not be created in Prague, and when the current ones expire their valid construction permits, companies will have to remove the huge advertising billboards and spaces. In addition to regulating advertisements over six square meters, the regulations set rules for building heights, limit urban expansion at the expense of open landscapes, and prioritize infill construction and the use of vacant areas. However, according to Bigmedia, the regulations are devastating for outdoor advertising operators. As part of a strong protest campaign, the company initially flooded Prague with billboards opposing the regulations and eventually covered up election billboards for TOP 09. After a court ruling, they had to re-paste the posters. TOP 09 filed a lawsuit against Bigmedia on Monday.
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