Czech Regulations Research Articles

Ambiguities in Regulations Aimed at Safety in Intentional Work with Biological Agents

The Czech Republic, like other member states of the European Union, has implemented Directive 2000/54/EC. However, the resulting form of the transposition does not fully correspond to the requirements set out in the directive. Above all, the omission of the terms containment and physical containment level, which are used not only in the directive, but also in the text of technical standards, is very problematic. As a result of the absence of the mentioned terms, it is very difficult for many employees to orient themselves in the Czech legal regulations focused on safety and health protection when working with biological agents. The article summarizes the requirements set by Czech regulations and compares them with the requirements of the Directive 2000/54/EC and technical standards. At the same time, it offers the reader a selection of the main regulations of a non-normative nature that have been created by international organizations (World health organization and European Committee for Standardization) in order to manage biological risk in the workplace.

Reducing the Impact of the Global COVID-19 Pandemic on Business Entities in the Czech Republic from an Accounting and Tax Perspective

Research background: The global pandemic declared by WHO on 11 March 2020 has had a widespread impact on the world economy, and the COVID-19 outbreak has severely affected economic life throughout the globalized world. Governments have taken various measures to support their economy and financial stability. The global restrictions on production and services, reduced demand for goods and services and this year’s cash-flow problems will certainly lead to a significant decline in their profits, especially for small and medium-sized companies. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly affected most business entities in the Czech Republic. Purpose of the article: The purpose of the paper is to describe, analyse and evaluate measures of the government of the Czech Republic, which aimed at reducing the impact of the pandemic on businesses in the Czech Republic. Methods: In the paper, classical types of scientific procedures were applied using theoretical and empirical methods which include description, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison and evaluation and so on. Findings & Value added: The paper analyses the impacts of COVID-19 in the context of accounting measures from the perspective of Czech and international accounting regulations. The paper proposes a solution in the area of mandatory reactions of accounting entities to a completely unusual situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic which should be mandatory and disclosed in the notes to the financial statements. Furthermore, the paper evaluates a set of measures in the field of taxation, wages and insurance premiums intended for business entities and their employees.

O potrzebie implementacji do prawa polskiego przepisów dotyczących transgranicznego podziału spółek kapitałowych (uwagi na tle dotychczasowych rozwiązań czeskich)

Polski ustawodawca został postawiony przed koniecznością implementacji nowych uregulowań dotyczących podziału transgranicznego. Uregulowania te, niezbędne do wykonania dyrektywy 2019/2121/UE, powinny zostać wprowadzone w życie najpóźniej do 31 stycznia 2023 roku. W związku z tym głównym celem niniejszego opracowania jest analiza procedury transgranicznego podziału zaproponowanej przez ustawodawcę europejskiego we wspomnianej dyrektywie i porównania jej z rozwiązaniami czeskimi, które obowiązują obecnie. W artykule odniesiono się także do miejsca transponowania przepisów, definicji legalnej połączenia transgranicznego oraz zakresu samej regulacji.

Tajność głosowania w prawie wyborczym wybranych państw Europy Środkowej

The article describes Polish, Czech and Lithuanian regulations on secret ballot, with a particular emphasis on the functionality and technical aspects of its execution. The two main methods of voting subjected to research are voting at polling station and postal voting, with some references to other alternative voting methods (proxy voting, mobile polling station, mobile ballot box) as well. Statutory provisions are at some point confronted with the views of legal doctrine and international regulations on the matter. Appearing across the whole work are considerations on the legal status of the secret ballot rule for individuals, whether it is an obligation or a right. The part devoted to Polish law also contains a commentary on changes to Polish Electoral Code in force from years 2016–2018.

Dilemmas of Transfer Pricing Comparability Analysis in Manufacturing Entities. Polish-Czech Case Study

Abstract Modern manufacturing entities often operate in capital groups, and their role is sometimes limited to the function of cost centers. From the legal point of view, however, they are separate entities obliged to apply transfer pricing regulations. Meeting the requirements of the arm's length principle can be very difficult at this time, given the relationships and conflicts of interest in the capital group. Complexity increases in capital groups operating in different countries, due to differences in tax regulations. The main purpose of the paper is to demonstrate that the need to valuate the sale of finished goods to a manufacturing entity, which is a subject to a different tax jurisdiction, may lead to a problem of compliance with the arm's length principle. In addition, the paper proposes a methodology for comparability analysis that may be used by manufacturing entities to defend conditions of setting transfer pricing. The paper presents the different functional profiles of manufacturing entities and points out the difficulties that they may encounter when preparing the comparability analysis. It has also been noted that there are differences in transfer pricing regulations in different countries, for example by analyzing Polish and Czech regulations. The lack of uniform benchmarking legislation can cause inconsistencies in the selection of comparable data, resulting in differences in transfer pricing. The paper uses the method of legal regulation review and analysis of results of published studies concerning the scope of transfer pricing and comparability analysis. The paper also adopts a case study analysis.

The effect of compaction degree and binder content on performance properties of asphalt mixtures

The effect of compaction degree and binder content on performance properties of asphalt mixtures of an asphalt concrete type for wearing and binder courses are described in the paper. Measurements of stiffness modulus by two-point bending test on trapezoidal shaped specimens, fatigue characteristics, and resistance against frost cracking by thermal stress restrained specimen test have been performed on selected asphalt mixtures. The main aim of the experimental part was to determine to what extent the performance properties of the individual mixtures will be affected when decreasing the compaction degree by 3% in comparison to the optimal design, i.e. from 100% to 97% degree of compaction. This decrease simulates incomplete degree of compaction of courses during pavement construction, which is common and accepted during acceptance tests and it is in accordance with the Czech regulations. Then, the decreased dosage of binder content by 0.5% is simulated, which is the boundary parameter for lowering the binder content within the acceptance test. The results of performance testing have been affected by lower compaction degree and lower binder content have been used as course parameters and integrated into a mathematical model of a commonly used pavement construction, which is presented by a multi-layered linear elastic model based on the use of Burmister‘s equations. The outcome of the paper is a description of the effect of lower degree of compaction and lower binder dosage on the lifetime of a pavement construction.

Contractual Penalty and the Right to Payment for Delays Caused by Force Majeure in Czech Civil Law under the New Civil Code

Abstract In the context of the conclusion of contracts between entrepreneurs under the Czech Civil Code, it is a relatively common arrangement that the parties disclaim any and all liability for damage arising from non-compliance with contractual obligations, if they can prove that this failure was due to an obstacle independent of their will. This circumstance excluding liability for the damage is called force majeure by the theory. In many countries this circumstance is ruled upon directly by the legislation (höhere Gewalt, vis major). The Czech regulations represented by the new Civil Code of 2012 (CivC), however, contains only a framework provision that mentions discharging reasons. The paper deals with the – rather disputable – issue that the force majeure does not affect the obligation to pay a contractual penalty under the new rules of the CivC. It should be therefore reflected in the arrangements for contractual penalties inter partes. To this effect the paper analyses the concepts of contractual penalties and force majeure in civil law legislation. Afterwards it compares their mutual relationship and impact on the obligations of the Contracting Parties. Finally, it draws recommendations for practice from the perspective of the contracting process.

Factoring Services in the Czech Republic

1. Introduction The goal of this paper is to present the development and the current situation of factoring in the Czech Republic during the period of 2007-2014. The theoretical analysis includes the definition of factoring services and the classification of its forms in relevant professional literature of the Czech Republic (monographs and other university sources). Empirical analysis focuses on selected quantitative characteristics: volume development, changes in factoring structure, the institutionalized framework of factoring and prospects of further development of this funding. Empirical knowledge is mostly based on Czech statistics and the statistics of international associations. Comparability of Czech statistical data with foreign data, however, is limited due to their unequal structure. It allows assessing the prospects of factoring as a tool to finance small and medium-sized enterprise in the Czech Republic in the medium-term horizon. 2. Concept of Factoring Czech professional literature places factoring in the so-called alternative which includes all forms of some other than financing, or some other than financing from own resources. (2) Most authors do not use the term alternative financing: they deal with relevant methods of financing only, and in different context. (Kislingerova, 2007) The literature offers lots of different definitions and/or characteristics of factoring. large number of existing definitions that meet requirements for the structure of the scientific definition are drawn up for a special purpose, i.e. they aim to explain factoring as a financial category. Many of these definitions are based on the historical perception of factoring as a form of financing where the so-called factor plays the crucial role. Recent Czech definitions, however, mostly call the persons described as the so-called factor, in line with Czech regulations--financial mediators. Czech literature usually defines/describes factoring from various perspectives, e.g. as: 1. a form of financing, 2. a financial tool, 3. a method of financing, 4. financial-business transaction, 5. financial service/product, 6. contract of factoring. Presented quotations from Czech professional literature confirm this view. Kislingerova describes factoring from the point of view of its subject as a regular purchase of short-term debts by a factoring company. The team of authors of the University of Economics (Revenda-Mandel-Musilek-Dvorak-Brada, 2000) briefly define factoring as contract-based continuous purchase of short-term debts arisen as a result of providing fiduciary supplier Similarly, Poloucek: Factoring is a method of financing based on the sale of short-term multiple claims resulting from the sale of goods or services. Czech characteristics or the definitions of factoring thus mostly reflect the concept of factoring in foreign literature; in terms of the factoring concept, they usually differ in the application of a different initial approach. The same might be said about the (empirical) definition used by the Czech Factoring Association. Factoring is a modern financial tool that represents an alternative to the bank credit for its user. The source of financing are claims that arise for the user of factoring as a result of supplies of goods or services. The debt via transfer passes to the factoring company which in addition to its funding provides a complex of different-scope in the area of debt management and collection for the user of factoring, or after assuming non-payment risk due to insolvency or unwillingness of relevant customers. (Poloucek, 2006.). Karel Havlicek describes factoring as a key instrument of SME's financing in times of crisis. A major advantage of factoring is the flexibility of financing and screening off any potential problems of the company, as the factoring provider works more or less on the basis of the financial standing of the actual receivables, not on the actual standing of the company asking for credit. …

Gross Written Premium of Insurance Companies in Cee Countries – Mismatching Problems in Financial Statements

Abstract The research objective of this paper is to compare the current approaches in reporting of gross written premium in selected Central and Eastern European countries. Under current Czech regulations, the gross written premium in majority of Czech insurance companies is charged under the payment method set in the contract (i.e. annually, quarterly, monthly, etc.), however revenues from gross written premium for the accounting period are always shown in the proper amount. Our research confirmed that presented information about gross written premium in various jurisdictions is based on different methodologies and proved that for the comparability of data and for their information capability there is crucial to develop a precise definition of gross written premium; only in such case there would be possible to ensure the credibility of statistical data. Using these incomparable data may lead in many cases to misleading conclusions when evaluating the level of insurance in various countries and regions.

How to recognize revenues from gross written premium: some evidence from insurance companies operating in CEE markets.

The research objective of this paper is to compare the current approaches in reporting of gross written premium in selected Central and Eastern European countries. Under current Czech regulations, the gross written premium in majority of Czech insurance companies is charged under the payment method set in the contract (i.e. annually, quarterly, monthly, etc.), however revenues from gross written premium for the accounting period are always shown in the proper amount. Our research confirmed that presented information about gross written premium in various jurisdictions is based on different methodologies and proved that for the comparability of data and for their information capability there is crucial to develop a precise definition of gross written premium; only in such case there would be possible to ensure the credibility of statistical data. Using these incomparable data may lead in many cases to misleading conclusions when evaluating the level of insurance in various countries and regions.

How to recognize revenues from gross written premium: some evidence from insurance companies operating in CEE markets

The research objective of this paper is to compare the current approaches in reporting of gross written premium in selected Central and Eastern European countries. Under current Czech regulations, the gross written premium in majority of Czech insurance companies is charged under the payment method set in the contract (i.e. annually, quarterly, monthly, etc.), however revenues from gross written premium for the accounting period are always shown in the proper amount. Our research confirmed that presented information about gross written premium in various jurisdictions is based on different methodologies and proved that for the comparability of data and for their information capability there is crucial to develop a precise definition of gross written premium; only in such case there would be possible to ensure the credibility of statistical data. Using these incomparable data may lead in many cases to misleading conclusions when evaluating the level of insurance in various countries and regions.

How to Recognize Revenues from Gross Written Premium: Some Evidence from Insurance Companies Operating in Cee Markets

ABSTRACT The research objective of this paper is to compare the current approaches in reporting of gross written premium in selected Central and Eastern European countries. Under current Czech regulations, the gross written premium in majority of Czech insurance companies is charged under the payment method set in the contract (i.e. annually, quarterly, monthly, etc.), however revenues from gross written premium for the accounting period are always shown in the proper amount. Our research confirmed that presented information about gross written premium in various jurisdictions is based on different methodologies and proved that for the comparability of data and for their information capability there is crucial to develop a precise definition of gross written premium; only in such case there would be possible to ensure the credibility of statistical data. Using these incomparable data may lead in many cases to misleading conclusions when evaluating the level of insurance in various countries and regions.

Changes in Property and Ownership Structure of Companies as a Consequence of Mergers in the Czech Republic

Combinations of companies in the form of mergers lead to the concentration of capital accompanied by an increase in the value of assets as well as economic power; moreover, the ownership structure changes, new organizational systems and various projects in the personnel policy are created and developed, global company culture and company philosophy are born. This paper presents partial results of the Czech Science Foundation research project no. 403/11/0447, whose objectives are to identify the problems in merger preparation in compliance with valid Czech regulations and to analyse economic causes and consequences of mergers. The source of information is a basic dataset formed in the structure necessary for statistical analysis; the dataset was created by the project implementers. An empirical research has been conducted on the basic statistical file that contains information about all the companies in the Czech Republic, which merged in the last 10 years (2001–2010), and published in digital form financial statements in the collection of the Trade Register. We analyse temporal series reflecting the development of mergers in companies as divided by size and the role of the company in the merger process, measured by the number of mergers and volume of assets of the successor and the dissolved companies. Our research has proven that the Czech economic environment is dominated by the combinations where a larger company devours the smaller one with the objective to achieve a more advantageous position in the market and economies of scale. A closer dependence was found for development trends in the cases when the dissolved companies were larger than the successor company than in opposite cases. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.25.2.4030

Development of mergers and acquisitions in the conditions of the Czech economy 2001-2010

This paper presents the first results of a research project which has the aims to identify the problems appearing during the preparation of mergers in compliance with valid Czech regulations and to analyze economic causes and consequences of mergers. At the first stage it was necessary to compile a basic dataset in a structure needed for a statistical analysis. The aim of the analysis presented in this paper is to ascertain, both theoretically and empirically, how the external environment affected the development of mergers of trading companies in the conditions of the Czech economy. The covered period is the past ten years, i.e. 2001–2010, when the development of the global economy was affected by the bank crisis in the USA and the economic recession. The analysis of the development of mergers and acquisitions focuses on three groups of factors affecting activities in the field of company combinations. These are mergers and acquisitions which are subject to approval by regulatory bodies, the effect of new regulations of financing (financial factors) and the effect of the macroeconomic situation in the form of GDP indicator and PX index. Macroeconomic indicators are related to mergers whose development has not been published or explored within scientific research. The results of the analysis allowed us to describe the dependence of activities in the field of company mergers which took place in the Czech Republic in the past decade on the selected factors of the external environment.

Principal differences in financial reporting bases in the Czech Republic: comparison of IFRSs and Czech accounting standards requirements

The globalisation and expansion of markets, as well as the general progress in the technologies available, have brought new problems to the compilation of financial reports and to the ascertainment of the trading income of supranational corporations and groups in accordance with statutory regulations of the countries involved. From 2005 public listed companies in the Czech Republic should report under the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) framework, while the nonlisted companies will still report under the Czech accounting principles. This duality may lead to discrepancies with respect to the identification of free cash flow, which is considered the basic information required for income-based business valuation. The subsequent text therefore deals with the basic difference in the identification and valuation of assets and liabilities in listed companies (which report under the IFRSs) and nonlisted companies (which report under Czech regulations).

Experience in non-conventional wastewater treatment techniques used in the Czech Republic

Among the most common non-conventional wastewater treatment techniques used in the Czech Republic are waste stabilisation ponds (WSP), subsurface horizontal flow constructed wetlands (CW) and vertical flow groundfilters (GF). These extensive systems can be advantageously used for treatment of waters coming from sewerages where the ballast weighting commonly makes more than half of dry-weather flow. The monitoring was focused at 14 different extensive systems. Organics removal efficiencies were favourable (CW-82%; GF-88%); in the case of WSP only 57% due to the algal bloom. Total nitrogen removal efficiencies were 43 and 47% for WSP and GF; in the case of CW only 32% due to often occurring anaerobic conditions in filter beds. Total phosphorus removal efficiencies were 37, 35 and 22% for WSP, GF and CW, respectively. Often occurring problems are the ice-blockage of surface aerators at WSP during wintertimes, the pond duckweed-cover or the algal bloom at WSP during summers; a gradual colmatage of filter systems; and the oxygen deficiency in beds of subsurface horizontal flow constructed wetlands. Czech legal regulations do not allow treated wastewater disposal into underground waters. There is only an exception for individual family houses. Up to now, knowledge gained by monitoring of a village (which uses the infiltration upon a permission issued according to earlier legal regulations) have not shown an unacceptable groundwater quality deterioration into the infiltration areas.