Czech President Vetoes Bill On Energy Performance Certificates Of Buildings

On 9 August 2012 Vaclav Klaus, the President of the Czech Republic, vetoed the amendment to the Energy Management Act (406/2000 Coll.), which governs obligations connected to energy performance certificates of buildings. The President said the bill was based on defective EU regulation, would cause unnecessary expenditure for both the private and public sectors and would distort the free-market environment. Further information regarding the bill can be found in our Law-Now article dated 20 July 2012. The vetoed bill will now be sent back to the Chamber of Deputies (the Lower House of the Czech Parliament), at which the veto can be overridden by an absolute majority of its members (i.e. at least 101 members out of 200). However, the outcome cannot be predicted as there were only 93 members who voted for the bill during the first vote in June 2012. The Chamber of Deputies is in a "take it or leave it" situation, as it cannot make any further amendments to the wording of the bill. The date of the vote...