Advisors to Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka

The advisory committee is a supporting body whose responsibility is to provide technical advice with a view to allowing the prime minister to make informed political decisions. The advisory committee has the status of a section of the Office of the Government. Its official title is the Department of Advisors to the Prime Minister. The committee includes 36 experienced specialists who evaluate legislative materials, prepare background documents for the Cabinet's deliberations, assess the implementation of the government's program priorities, prepare tripartite meetings, and draft strategic documents in cooperation with ministries.

Directors of the Department of Advisors to the Prime Minister

Vladimír Špidla

Formerly Prime Minister, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, and Shadow Minister of Environment. European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, and Equal Opportunities during 2004 to 2010.

Anna Kárníková

Deputy Director of the Department of Advisors to the Prime Minister and Director of the Strategic Governance Section. Analyst, project coordinator. Formerly executive of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Foundation and Deputy Chairwoman of the Social Democratic Committee for Human Rights and Equal Opportunities.

Advisors for Industry, Finance, Transport, and Trade

Martin Fassmann

Director the Macroeconomic Department of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions. Formerly advisor to ministers and prime ministers.

Jaroslav Šulc

Economic expert of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions, advisor to the President of the Czech Senate. Formerly managing director of a pension fund and author of economic articles for private publications.

Pavel Mertlík

Formerly Minister of Finance, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chief Economist with Raiffeisen Bank. Currently Rector of the Bank Institute. Specializes in macroeconomic issues.

Petr Šlegr

Rail transport expert. Formerly Deputy Transport Minister, Deputy Director of the Railway Infrastructure Administration, and advisor to the Managing Director of the Railway Research Institute. Founder of the Efficient Transport Center.

Tomáš Pavelka

Professor at the Department of Microeconomics of the Faculty of Business Administration of the University of Economics in Prague.

Advisors for Social Affairs, Research and Development, Education, Healthcare, and Equal Opportunities

Stanislav Štech

University professor specializing in the psychology of learning, education expert. Prorector of Charles University in Prague, member of the Steering Committee of the OECD program Institutional Management in Higher Education.

Martin Potůček

University professor specializing in public and social policy issues. Director of the Center for Social and Economic Strategies at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University. Formerly Deputy Chairman of the Research, Development, and Innovation Council and advisor to the prime minister and ministers of labor and social affairs.

Jiří Witzany

Director of the Building Structures Department of the Czech Technical University. Formerly Rector of the Czech Technical University, Dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Deputy Chairman of the Czech Conference of Rectors, and advisor to minister of education, youth, and sports.

Ivan Ohlídal

Physicist, university professor at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Masaryk University, tertiary education expert. Formerly deputy in the Lower Chamber, Deputy Chairman of Lower Chamber Committee for Science, Education, Youth, Sports, and Culture, and deputy in the South Moravian regional assembly.

Jan Žaloudík

Senator representing the Brno-City constituency, surgeon, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University. Formerly Dean and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University and Director of the Masaryk Oncology Center in Brno.

Václav Hořejší

Director of the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the AS CR, member of the Council for Sciences of the AS CR, and member of other universities and academic institutions. Author of numerous scientific publications, professor of immunology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Charles University.

Ivana Kohnová

Healthcare expert, university professor at Palacký University, Head Physician at the Microbiology Department of the Prostějov Hospital. Formerly Director of the Healthcare Department of the Central Bohemian Region.

Radka Dudová

Sociologist, researcher at the Gender and Sociology Department of the Institute of Sociology of the AS CR, social policy, family sociology, and parenting expert.

Barbara Havelková

Lawyer, university professor, senior lecturer at University of Oxford. Law and gender expert. Cooperates with the public administration and nonprofit organizations.

Eva Syková

Scientist, university professor at the Second Faculty of Medicine of Charles University. Professor of physiology, Director of the Institute of Experimental Medicine AS CR. Elected senator in 2012.

Miroslav Jašurek

Coordinating advisor, tertiary education expert. Political scientist, university professor, analyst. Formerly Deputy Chairman of the Council of Higher Education Institutions and member of evaluation committees of the European University Association.

Advisors for Environment, Energy, Regional Development, and Agriculture

Pavel Veselý

Agriculture expert, Secretary of the Social Democratic Party's Agriculture Committee. Formerly advisor to ministers of agriculture, deputies, senators, and regional governors and editor in chief of specialized agriculture and food industry periodicals.

Tomáš Novotný

EU funds expert, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade. Formerly Deputy Minister of Environment, executive at the State Environmental Fund, and Director of the Regional Council of the Central Bohemia Cohesion Region.

Petr Petržílek

Lawyer, attorney, university professor, environmental legislation expert. Formerly Deputy Minister of Environment, director of the prime minister's advisory committee, and Head of the Social Democratic Party's Political Analysis Section.

Karel Machovec

Agriculture and economy expert. Executive at the Ministry of Agriculture, member of the Social Democratic Party's Agriculture Committee. Formerly deputy and Deputy Chairman of the Czech Agrarian Chamber.

Jan Hajda

Senator for the Břeclav constituency, Chairman of the Senate Committee for Economy, Agriculture, and Transport, agriculture expert. Honorary advisor to the prime minister. Formerly chairman of an agricultural cooperative and of a district agrarian chamber.

Radko Martínek

Senator. Formerly deputy, Governor of the Pardubice Region, and Minister for Regional Development. Public administration and regional development expert. Honorary advisor to the prime minister.

Martin Kloz

Coordinating advisor, Social Democratic Party's expert for energy, renewable resources, and environmental protection. Formerly executive at the Ministry of Environment, Office of the Government, and Czech Geological Bureau.

Advisors for Foreign Policy, Defense, Culture, and Civil Society

Jaromír Novotný

Security and foreign policy expert. Formerly First Deputy Minister of Defense, ambassador to India and Japan, and executive at the Office of the President.

Miloslav Had

Member of the Social Democratic Party's European Affairs Committee, foreign policy and European integration expert. Formerly executive at Ministry of Foreign Affairs and member of management teams for numerous international projects. Author of a large number of foreign policy publications.

Blanka Mouralová

Foreign policy and culture expert, Managing Director of Collegium Bohemicum, o.s. Formerly Director of the Czech Center in Berlin, advisor to a senator, publicist, and university professor.

Bedřich Kopecký

Formerly ambassador to Poland, experienced executive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and diplomat.

Jan Šícha

Foreign policy expert, diplomat, and publicist. Founder and former Director of the Czech Center in Munich. Formerly executive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Curator with Collegium Bohemicum.

Advisors for Justice, Interior Affairs, Human Rights, and the Government Legislative Council

Martin Šíp

Lawyer specializing in bankruptcy, sequestration, civil, and business law, member of the Social Democratic Party's Central Legal Committee.

Pavel Jiřička

Lawyer specializing in civil and business law, member of the Social Democratic Party's Central Legal Committee.

Jan Strouhal

Lawyer specializing in criminal and administrative law and the registration and regulation of pharmaceuticals. Member of the Social Democratic Party's Central Legal Committee.

Jan Kudrna

Coordinating advisor, constitutional and European law expert. Professor at the Department of Constitutional Law of the Faculty of Law, Charles University and at Metropolitan University. Cooperated with the Polish Constitutional Court.

Political Advisor to the Prime Minister

Oto Novotný

Oversees the government's adherence to commitments jointly undertaken by coalition partners and performs ongoing assessment of the prime minister's and the Cabinet's performance using media and sociological analyses. Formerly the Social Democratic Party's Chief Analyst and policy preparation coordinator.