CZECH REPUBLIC: Government reorganisation undermines democratic governance and public participation
In May 2026, the Czech government approved an unprecedented reorganisation of the Office of the Government, effective from 1 July 2026, transferring 48 staff positions and key human rights agendas to individual ministries. The decision, initiated by the head of the government office, Tünde Bartha, and Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, dismantles a cross-ministerial system that has coordinated human rights protection and expert stakeholder consultations for decades, setting a worrying precedent for the fragmentation of key cross-cutting agendas and the erosion of central coordination. The government has presented the restructuring as an effort to improve administrative efficiency and reduce the costs of state institutions, justifying the move by referencing an internal analysis conducted by the government office. However, this analysis was never publicly disclosed by the office itself; it was only obtained by journalists, who subsequently noted that the document provided no actual need for the measures taken.
Previously, the Office of the Government ensured a cross-ministerial approach to complex issues. Since topics like human rights or minority protection do not belong to a single ministry, having a central coordinating body allowed the government to align policies, connect different departments, and address these challenges as a whole. This enabled officials to address complex societal issues, such as disability rights, Roma inclusion, gender equality, and minority rights, through a whole-of-government approach.
The transfer of these functions to individual ministries removes this central oversight and risks fragmenting responsibility across the state administration. The Commissioner for Human Rights has also been left without an expert apparatus, reducing her capacity to intervene in legislative and inter-ministerial processes.
CSOs and experts warn that the reform weakens institutional independence and undermines the coordination required for complex, cross-cutting issues such as human rights. Officials who previously operated independently within the government office are now subordinate to ministers and are less likely to assess or challenge policies introduced by their own ministries critically. Responsibility for human rights is being dispersed among the prime minister, individual ministers, and the human rights commissioner, without a direct executive apparatus, creating uncertainty over who is responsible for protecting fundamental rights. The transfer of administrative staff who are responsible for operational tasks, threatens the functioning of advisory councils, committees, and working groups that facilitate dialogue between the state and civil society and affected groups.
The process by which the changes were adopted is also concerning. The reorganisation was rushed without expert consultation with affected government councils, employees, or civil society and without impact assessment. Nearly 100 CSOs issued a joint statement opposing both the substance of the reform and the lack of transparency in how it was implemented, 53 experts from government councils resigned, as of 30 June and staff from the government office went on a historically unprecedented strike. The Czech government’s actions also raise serious concerns regarding compliance with the EU’s Civil Society Strategy, which presents participation, transparency, predictability, and accountability as core principles of democratic governance.