The government plays first fiddle in European Union (EU) decision-making processes, but a role in EU governance is also performed by the national parliament, which has gained additional competence to submit reasoned opinions based on the subsidiarity principle and participate in the political dialogue with the European Commission. The authors trace the policy-shaping and policy-taking processes and explore the impact of parliamentary and government involvement in EU policy-making on belated and timely transposition of EU directives in the Czech Republic. This comparative analysis of six directives, of which three were transposed on time and the other three from the same policy areas not, shows that the connection between ex-ante and ex-post stages still seems weak, and thus, greater involvement by parliament in EU affairs does not alone affect the time of transposition. Instead, the capacity of the government, determined partly by the salience of the legislation and its characteristics, is the main explanation for the transposition delays.

The Czech Republic often has been cited as an example of successful economic transformation. The available literature has primarily focused on changes in the macroeconomic environment, although the actions of economic agents at the microeconomic level have emerged as the crucial factor explaining this success. Based on 101 oral history interviews, this article offers the firsthand experiences, frustrations, challenges, and human dimensions of doing business at that time and shows that the road from socialism to the market economy was a bumpy one. Our approach fills major information voids, and thus offers a unique opportunity for business historians to avoid slipping into the incomplete view of the world presented by written literature and archives.

Vrančiceite is a new mineral species discovered in a sample collected from the old mine dumps of the abandoned Vrančice deposit near Příbram, central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Vrančiceite occurs as rare anhedral grains, up to 100 μm in size, in a calcite gangue, associated with cinnabar, djurleite, galena and hedyphane. Vrančiceite is black, with metallic lustre. Mohs hardness is ca. 2–3, calculated density is 6.652 g.cm–3. In reflected light, vrančiceite is light grey with a yellowish shade; bireflectance, pleochroism and anisotropy are all weak. Internal reflections were not observed. Reflectance values for the four Commission on Ore Mineralogy wavelengths of vrančiceite in air [Rmax, Rmin (%) (λ in nm)] are: 33.6, 31.2 (470); 33.9, 30.6 (546); 31.1, 30.0 (589); and 32.1, 29.1 (650). The empirical formula, based on electron-microprobe analyses, is Cu10.11(4)Ag0.01(1)Hg2.87(4)Sb0.01(1)Bi0.01(1)S7.99(8). The ideal formula is Cu10Hg3S8 (Z = 2), which requires (in wt.%) Cu 42.54, Hg 40.29 and S 17.17, total 100.00. Vrančiceite is triclinic, P$\bar{1}$, with unit-cell parameters a = 7.9681(2), b = 9.7452(3), c = 10.0710(3) Å, α = 77.759(1), β = 76.990(1), γ = 79.422(1)°, V = 737.01(4) Å3 and Z = 2. The strongest reflections of the calculated powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d, Å (I) hkl] are: 3.354 (76) $\bar{2}$01, 3.111 (68) 222, 2.833 (100) 213, 2.733 (93) 231, 2.705 (76) 2$\bar{2}$1 and 2.647 (71) $\bar{2}\bar{1}$2. According to the single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (R1 = 0.0262), the crystal structure of vrančiceite can be described as comprising Cu–S layers, connected through CuS3 polyhedra, giving rise to a three-dimensional framework with channels running along the a axis and hosting linearly coordinated Hg atoms. Structural relations with gortdrumite are discussed. Vrančiceite is named after its type locality, the Vrančice deposit near Příbram. The mineral and its name have been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA2022–114).

A new mineral species, holubite, ideally Ag3Pb6(Sb8Bi3)Σ11S24, has been found at Kutná Hora ore district, Czech Republic. The mineral is associated with other lillianite homologues (gustavite, terrywallaceite, vikingite and treasurite) most frequently as grain aggregates and replacement rims of earlier Ag–Pb–Bi minerals, growing together in aggregates up to 200 × 50 μm. It typically occurs in a close association with Ag,Bi-bearing galena and terrywallaceite. Holubite is opaque, steel-grey in colour and has a metallic lustre, the calculated density is 5.899 g/cm3. In reflected light holubite is greyish white and bireflectance and pleochroism are weak with grey tints. Anisotropy is weak to medium with grey to bluish-grey rotation tints. Internal reflections were not observed. Electron microprobe analyses yielded an empirical formula, based on 44 atoms per formula unit (apfu) of (Ag3.03Cu0.03)Σ3.06(Pb6.19Fe0.02Cd0.01)Σ6.22(Sb7.71Bi2.90)Σ10.61S24.12. Its unit-cell parameters are: a = 19.374(4), b = 13.201(3), c = 8.651(2) Å, β = 90.112(18)°, V = 2212.5(9) Å3, space group P21/n and Z = 2. Holubite is a new member of the andorite branch of the lillianite homologous series with N = 4. The structure of holubite contains two Pb sites with a trigonal prismatic coordination, eight distinct octahedral sites, of which one is a mixed (Bi,Ag) site and one is a mixed (Sb,Pb) site, and twelve anion sites. Holubite is defined as a lillianite homologue with the three following requirements: N = 4, L% [Ag+ + (Bi3+,Sb3+) ↔ 2 Pb2+ substitution] ≈ 70% and approximately one quarter to one third at.% of antimony is replaced by bismuth [Bi/(Bi+Sb) ≈ 0.26–34]. The new mineral has been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA2022-112) and named after Milan Holub, a key Czech geologist and specialist in the Kutná Hora ore district.

During the Late Pleistocene (MIS 5e-2), the brown bear Ursus arctos was widespread in the Czech Republic. From this time interval, the species was recorded in 51 Czech localities, including 10 open-air and 41 cave sites. A total of 18 radiocarbon dates obtained from the material showed the presence of the species in this territory 46–12.6 kyr ago during the Late Pleistocene, but most of the dates are concentrated between 45.7 and 29.3 kyr. Later, its occurrence continued into the Holocene. Three dates confirmed the presence of U. arctos just before and during the LGM. However, during the coolest part of the GS-2.1b interval (about 20.9–19.0 kyr), the species was not recorded in the territory of the Czech Republic. A large, broad-toothed, highly carnivorous priscus ecomorph adapted to live in open grasslands occurred during the Late Pleistocene, while the arctos ecomorph was rarely recorded from that period. The post-LGM time (17.5–14.7 kyr) was characterised by increasing numbers of brown bear dates on the territory of the Czech Republic. It was also a period of progressive afforestation and the disappearance of the priscus ecomorph. The latest occurrence of the priscus ecomorph in the territory of the Czech Republic was represented by a robust mandible from the Býčí skála Cave, dated at 15.4–14.9 kyr.

Although the legal conditions are perceived as restrictive, metal detecting has become a popular activity in the Czech Republic. In 2017, a questionnaire survey revealed that a significant segment of this community is made up of passionate people interested in history and archaeology. The majority of professional archaeologists consider metal-detecting finds to be important and believe that cooperation with metal detectorists is necessary, beneficial, and acceptable. A collaborative project called “Joint Forces in Order to Discover the Common Archaeological Heritage of the South Moravian Region” aims to create conditions for citizen science among the metal detectorists in the region. By using tools such as expert workshops for the employees of professional institutions, meetings, educational workshops and field activities with interested members of the public, and production and distribution of printed and digital information materials, the partners in the program have long endeavored to improve the mutual understanding of all relevant actors of society and administration. The creation of circles of citizen collaborators is in progress in several archaeological institutions; nevertheless, this process is far from over. In 2020, with the creation of the Portal of Amateur Collaborators, this activity acquired a unified digital scheme for the registration of finds.

Cheloniellida is a rare but significant clade of artiopod euarthropods, and a major component of Vicissicaudata alongside aglaspidids. The first cheloniellid to be described was Triopus draboviensis, based on a single specimen from the Upper Ordovician Letná Formation in Bohemia. Because this specimen was believed to be missing its anterior, Triopus draboviensis has been the subject of considerable speculation regarding its affinities, with several authors combining various isolated cephalic shields with its trunk. Notwithstanding, Triopus draboviensis has eluded detailed restudy in the 150 years since its first description. Here we provide a redescription of the holotype and hitherto only known specimen of Triopus draboviensis, and describe a recently discovered second partial specimen as Triopus sp. It is shown that the holotype of Triopus draboviensis preserves the complete cephalic shield, while the trunk reveals a likely articulating device, which may represent an apomorphy for Cheloniellida. Further information on the trunk morphology provided by the new specimen has allowed a complete reconstruction of the dorsal exoskeleton of Triopus. An assessment is made of fossils previously suggested to represent the cephalic shield of Triopus draboviensis; while it is shown that none of those fossils can be attributed to Triopus, it is reaffirmed that Drabovaspis complexa likely does belong to Cheloniellida, making Drabovaspis the third cheloniellid genus known from the Letná Formation, after Triopus and Duslia. A revised diagnosis for Cheloniellida is provided, and the recently described problematic euarthropod Parioscorpio venator from the Silurian of Wisconsin is firmly rejected from this clade.

While female representation in the top diplomatic circles was almost nonexistent during the Czechoslovak era, the number of female diplomats in the Czech Republic has steadily increased since the fall of the state-socialist regime. Women are currently solidly represented in the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), but very few (14%) reach highest diplomatic positions. This study examines the main challenges that influence the careers of top diplomats using quantitative and qualitative data, including official statistics and documents of the Czech MFA and interviews with top diplomats and officials. The results indicate that work-family conflicts are the main challenge for all diplomats. However, women are apparently affected more disproportionately because of the existing “double burden” and a specific “concept of motherhood” vested in a deeply essentialist understanding of gender roles. These barriers have origins at the personal, institutional, and state levels that are strongly interrelated and historically and politically path dependent.

Two populations of the species Diastolaimus grossus have been obtained from bark of trees in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Czech Republic. The species is described and characterized in detail using morphological techniques (light and electron scanning microscopy) and morphometrical (Gower General Similarity coefficient of morphological characters) and molecular analyses, including phylogenetic analysis of all related and already sequenced species of the family Chambersiellidae. Morphological and molecular analyses, based on 18S and 28S ribosomal DNA sequences, show that the family Chambersiellidae is polyphyletic, being the subfamily Chambersiellinae related with Cephalobomorpha and Tylenchomorpha, and the subfamily Macrolaiminae is located into Panagrolaimomorpha. The genus Diastolaimus, previously belonging to Macrolaiminae, is transferred to Chambersiellinae. Diastolaimus mexicanus is proposed as a junior synonym of D. grossus.

Law-making in most parliamentary democracies is dominated by the executive. Yet so far, all research has focused on the parliamentary stage of law-making. Studies suggest that the changes to bills submitted by coalition governments are the result of coalition policies dealing with the agency loss caused by ministerial drift. This is puzzling because it is already easier and more effective for coalition parties to attempt to change the bills in the executive phase than in the parliamentary one. The article aims to close the knowledge gap, and it quantitatively explores the factors that facilitate changes during the understudied executive phase on case study of the Czech Republic. Analysis reveals that government bills are altered more during the executive phase than the parliamentary phase. While we find no significant impact caused by the distance to coalition compromise, the saliency of a bill for coalition partners has a negative influence on the ratio of changes.

This article offers an opening to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) situation and attacks against the judiciary in this region since 2010. The focus is not primarily on historical path dependence like the rest of this issue. Instead, the focus aims at the nature of attacks on the judiciary. Such attacks have appeared in CEE and the US in recent years. Its interest lies in explaining similar patterns visible in the judiciaries of CEE. Particularly, it looks at the current conditions in the Czech judiciary, political interventions in Poland since 2015 and in Hungary since 2010, and undermining of trust towards judiciary in the U.S., where attempts for delegitimizing the judiciary have happened since 2016. The article draws on similarities of attacks of authoritarian governments and responses of judiciaries. The authors highlight similarities and diversities of CEE countries 30 years after the fall of the communist regime and a path of these resemblances and varieties.

The new mineral, zvěstovite-(Zn), ideally Ag6(Ag4Zn2)As4S13, was found in quartz–baryte gangue at the mine dump of the abandoned small deposit of Zvěstov, central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Zvěstovite-(Zn) is associated with tennantite-(Zn), tetrahedrite-(Zn), argentotennantite-(Zn), acanthite and supergene azurite and malachite. The new mineral occurs as rare relic anhedral grains rimmed by acanthite, up to 100 μm in size. Zvěstovite-(Zn) is grey, Mohs hardness is ca. 3½–4, in agreement with other members of the tetrahedrite group; the calculated density is 5.16 g.cm–3. In reflected light, zvěstovite-(Zn) is grey with a greenish tint, without bireflectance, pleochroism or anisotropy. Deep red internal reflections are ubiquitous. Reflectance values of zvěstovite-(Zn) in air (R%) are: 28.5 at 470 nm, 26.9 at 546 nm, 25.5 at 589 nm and 23.8 at 650 nm. The empirical formula for zvěstovite-(Zn), based on electron-microprobe analyses (n = 4), is Ag6.27[(Ag3.90Cu0.38)Σ4.28(Zn1.60Fe0.09Cd0.03)Σ1.72]Σ6.00(As2.26Sb1.48)Σ3.74S12.50. The ideal formula is Ag6(Ag4Zn2)As4S13, which requires (in wt.%) Ag 56.01, Zn 6.79, As 15.56 and S 21.64, total 100.00. Zvěstovite-(Zn) is cubic, I$\bar{4}$3m, with unit-cell parameters: a = 10.850(2) Å, V = 1277.3(8) Å3 and Z = 2. The strongest reflections of the calculated powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d, Å (I) (hkl)] are: 3.1321(100) (222), 2.7125(21) (400), 1.9809(11) (521), 1.9180(31) (440) and 1.6357(15) (622). According to the single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (Robs = 0.051), the crystal structure of zvěstovite-(Zn) agrees with the general features of the members of the tetrahedrite group. Zvěstovite-(Zn) is named after its type locality, Zvěstov; the suffix indicates the dominant divalent C-constituent, according to the approved nomenclature of the tetrahedrite group. It is the As-isotype of rozhdestvenskayaite-(Zn). The mineral and its name have been approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification of the International Mineralogical Association (IMA2020-061).

The new mineral hrabákite (IMA2020-034) was found in siderite–sphalerite gangue with minor dolomite–ankerite at the dump of shaft No. 9, one of the mines in the abandoned Příbram uranium and base-metal district, central Bohemia, Czech Republic. Hrabákite is associated with Pb-rich tučekite, Hg-rich silver, stephanite, nickeline, millerite, gersdorffite, sphalerite and galena. The new mineral occurs as rare prismatic crystals up to 120 μm in size and allotriomorphic grains. Hrabákite is grey with a brownish tint. Mohs hardness is ca. 5–6; the calculated density is 6.37 g.cm–3. In reflected light, hrabákite is grey with a brown hue. Bireflectance is weak and pleochroism was not observed. Anisotropy under crossed polars is very weak (brownish tints) to absent. Internal reflections were not observed. Reflectance values of hrabákite in air (Rmin–Rmax, %) are: 39.6–42.5 at 470 nm, 45.0–47.5 at 546 nm, 46.9–49.2 at 589 nm and 48.9–51.2 at 650 nm). The empirical formula for hrabákite, based on electron-microprobe analyses (n = 11), is (Ni8.91Co0.09Fe0.03)9.03(Pb0.94Hg0.04)0.98(Sb0.91As0.08)0.99S7.99. The ideal formula is Ni9PbSbS8, which requires Ni 47.44, Pb 18.60, Sb 10.93 and S 23.03, total of 100.00 wt.%. Hrabákite is tetragonal, P4/mmm, a = 7.3085(4), c = 5.3969(3) Å, with V = 288.27(3) Å3 and Z = 1. The strongest reflections of the calculated powder X-ray diffraction pattern [d, Å (I)(hkl)] are: 3.6543(57)(200); 3.2685(68)(210); 2.7957(100)(211); 2.3920(87)(112); 2.3112(78)(310); 1.8663(74)(222); and 1.8083(71)(302). According to the single-crystal X-ray diffraction data (Rint = 0.0218), the unit cell of hrabákite is undoubtedly similar to the cell reported for tučekite. The structure contains four metal cation sites, two Sb (Sb1 dominated by Pb2+) and two Ni (with minor Co2+ content) sites. The close similarity in metrics between hrabákite and tučekite is due to similar bond lengths of Pb–S and Sb–S pairs. Hrabákite is named after Josef Hrabák, the former professor of the Příbram Mining College.

Increasing scholarly interest in past human mobility has provoked intense debate between archaeologists and archaeogeneticists. Explanations advanced by the latter have been criticised for framing explanations in terms of large-scale migrations, lacking underpinning social theory or interest in human behaviour; conversely, archaeologists have been criticised for supplying samples but no intellectual input. This article uses examples of ceramics and chipped stone tools to illustrate local interactions within regional Eneolithic Corded Ware culture in Moravia, demonstrating that what may appear as a homogeneous archaeological culture spread by mass migration can be understood as a more complex series of overlapping, local cultural changes.