Green with CEZ envy

Green members who want more say over energy policy were shot down yesterday by party Chairman Martin Bursík, but not before they made some eye-opening remarks. Petr Pávek, for example, told Czech Radio that it's no secret that ČEZ writes the energy laws itself and states in advance how energy rates will rise, before the independent regulator makes a ruling. Pávek wanted a seat for the Greens on the ČEZ supervisory board to help change this. But unless ČEZ is breaking the law, it's unlikely that the supervisory board would censure behavior that's in the company's best interest. The Green member on the board would be caught between fulfilling his or her duties under the commercial code, and playing the role of some kind of vaguely defined social watchdog, and on ČEZ's dime to boot. If the Greens want to change energy policy, they should probably try drafting some legislation. [Czech Republic]