The Czech parliament on Thursday approved an ambitious plan to return
billions of dollars worth of church property that was confiscated by the
communists in a vote that represented a victory for Prime Minister Petr
Necas.
The law envisages handing churches land,
property, and financial compensation worth about $7 billion over a
period of 30 years. Under the plan, the churches would become
independent from the state and gradually stop getting government
financing.
The agreement should unlock
about 6 percent of the country's forests and fields that once belonged
to mostly Christian churches but which have been tied up pending a
resolution of the restitution question.
That land, which was confiscated by the communists after 1948, could in future be developed, rented or sold.
The 200-seat lower house of parliament approved the
necessary legislation with 102 MPs voting in favor, overturning a veto
by the Senate, the upper house, which opposed the move.
After two decades of negotiations among politicians led by the
Roman Catholic Church, the churches are delighted with the agreement,
hoping it will restore their fortunes and reverse their declining role
in Czech society.
The vote was a victory for Necas,
whose unstable coalition quelled a backbench rebellion on Wednesday,
rushing through tax hikes and changes to the pension system.
The deal was supported by Necas and his conservative allies,
but is highly unpopular among the mostly atheist Czech populace and the
centre-left opposition.
The financial compensation
component comes to about only $100 million per year but has huge
symbolic value at a time of tax hikes and austerity measures that the
government has adopted to try to cut the budget deficit.
The law will now go to President Vaclav Klaus, who has voiced
reservations about the bill. He can veto the law once more after the
Senate's rejection, but the 102 votes Necas won in the lower house of
parliament on Thursday would be enough to overturn any presidential veto
too.
The law may lead to a one-off jump in this
year's budget deficit of around 1.5 percentage points of GDP, to cover
the compensation payments which are due to be spread out over 30 years.