Transport Ministry gives up on fines for planning obstructionists

The Ministry of Transport has dropped plans to allow the state to charge fines for those who block the planning process for new roads, railways and infrastructure. The ministry has been working on on a bill that would speed the planning process for key transport investments, but it's given up on the idea of charging opponents of planning permits a fee of tens of thousands of crowns in order to officially lodge their objections. The idea drew criticism from the Ministry of Environment earlier in the year, which claimed that it was the right of each citizen to protect their rights. The transport ministry's draft of the bill could be presented to the government in September, writes Mladá fronta Dnes. A new law on enforced purchases that went into effect last September is already being used in a dozen cases, while two cases have been concluded positively for the state.