Czech Republic: membership application and partnership, 17 January 1996

The committee adopted the report by Jürgen SCHRöDER (EPP-ED, D) on the Czech Republic's application for membership of the EU and the state of the negotiations. The committee recognised that the Czech Republic was one of the front runners among applicant countries and noted that it had also made significant efforts recently to speed up the process of aligning its legislation with the "acquis". However it expressed concern over environmental standards and called for further action to protect water quality and combat industrial pollution. It also stressed the need to ensure a high standard of safety at nuclear facilities. The attempt by the Czech government to postpone its liberalisation of the country's telecommunications market until the end of 2002 was also highlighted as a potential problem. Lastly, the committee drew attention to the problems of sex tourism, child prostitution and trafficking in women in the border area between Germany and the Czech Republic. �