Vystoupení ministra Jaroslava Palase












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            * Vystoupení ministra Jaroslava Palase
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            Your Royal Highness,
            Your Excellence,
            Spectabilis chancellor,

            Ladies and gentlemen, and honoured guests,

            I would first like to take this opportunity to welcome Your Royal Highness to the Czech Re

            to express my thanks for the support which the Netherlands has given the Czech Republic in
            management field.


            In August 2002 the Czech Republic was hit by very extensive and, in their nature, literall
            floods. During the course of these floods seventeen lives were lost, with property damage 

            at 75 billion Czech crowns. In the cleanup period that followed we were offered help and a
            many countries worldwide, both of a humanitarian and a material nature. One of the first c
            to our aid was the Netherlands. This significant material assistance also included an offe

            a solution to endangered places throughout the Czech Republic by improving preventative me
            of an international project aimed at assessing the vulnerability of inhabitants and proper
            treatened by flooding. The project, which was financed by the Netherlands, was very succes

            and there is no doubt of its importance in the regional development the Czech Republic.

            We are very grateful not only for this concrete assistance, but also for the long-term sup

            operation in the water management field, which is further developing.

            I have been informed of the other joint projects in these spheres underway between the the

            and the Czech Republic. The first project deals with an assessment of the selection of the
            protection system in the Opava river basin in the northern Moravian region. The second pro
            economically and ecologically sustainable agriculture as part of the introduction of the r

            the Framework Directive on Water Policy issued by the European Community. It is very impor
            our region, from which practically all rivers flow, with the motto “Water Knows No Borders
            Water Charter thus also having relevance for other European states.


            I am convinced that this co-operation between the the Netherlands and the Czech Republic a
            of the European Union shall continue to deepen

            and thus allow for the meeting of the EU’s objectives in the water area. For this reason I
            the opportunity to thank Your Highness personally for the support you have given to this t
            contributes towards improving and sustaining water sources.