Czech social‑service sector investigations

In early July 2026 the Ministry of Regional Development filed a criminal complaint accusing the Platform for Social Housing and related bodies of favouring the Platform in EU‑funded grant competitions from 2022‑2025, potentially misusing public money and creating conflicts of interest after a former director moved to a senior ministry role.

A separate probe launched later in July by the Ministry of Justice targeted the Union of Social Services and Labour Minister Aleš Juchelká. Investigators examined meetings held before the union’s entry in the mandatory lobbyist register and a 65 million CZK grant to the association “Dohled na dosah”, testing compliance with the lobbying law that took effect on 1 July 2025.

On 24 July 2026 the Justice Ministry formally opened the illegal‑lobbying investigation, confirming that the union’s pre‑registration talks with Juchelká centred on a draft social‑services‑law amendment and regional‑service financing, and reiterating scrutiny of the oversized grant.

Five days later, on 29 July 2026, the Labour Minister faced an additional probe over a possible conflict of interest in EU‑subsidy allocations. Former finance minister Vlastimil Tlustý called for full disclosure of state subsidies, estimating annual spending at about one trillion CZK. Allegations surfaced that Juchelká’s former adviser continued to run a consultancy assisting firms in securing EU‑funded subsidies while the ministry oversaw billions of crowns in grant programmes, and that the ministry failed to report projects worth roughly 64 million CZK to the European Commission. The overlapping investigations broaden the oversight from housing‑grant manipulations to lobbying practices and subsidy‑allocation transparency within the Czech social‑service sector.