Русская версияPreviously, however, the UOHS recognised the exception applied by the NK.
"Now the EC tells us we've made a mistake as we probably should not have recognised it," Pecina said.
A few weeks ago, Pecina turned to Brussels asking whether the exception was acceptable in the NK case.
The answer arrived last week and Pecina has passed it on to the Czech Culture Ministry, which he said had previously asked a similar question.
Pecina said today the UOHS must not disclose the exact wording of the EC's text.
The NK claimed the exception for the competition, won by Jan Kaplicky's design in spring 2007, as it was held under the rules of the International Union of Architects (UIA).
Pecina today said that when mentioning the possibility of an exception, the authors of the relevant regulation meant the situations where competitions and tenders are not only launched under the rules of international organisations but also financed by them.
This, however, is not the case of the NK project whose construction would be financed by the state, Pecina said.
The NK launched the competition under the UIA rules and it simultaneously applied the "competition for a design," a provision in the Czech law, Pecina added.
Kaplicky's victorious design violated the competition's binding rules, but the international jury accepted it as it preferred its architectonic value to the observance of the [Czech] competition-for-a-design rules, Pecina continued.
At the time the NK decided to try to apply the exception from the law on public orders. The UOHS recognised that the exception was possible to apply, but it probably should not have recognised it, according to the EC's latest statement, Pecina said.
Addressed by the UOHS, the EC, however, discussed neither the competition's regularity nor a possible violation of law in the Czech Republic.
EC spokesman Ton van Lierop has told CTK that the EC did not analyse details of the tender procedure in the Czech NK case. The EC does not register any case of a law violation connected to it, Lierop added.
Pecina today said "We have to assess the competition in the Czech Republic. It will be done by our office [UOHS] and our decision is reviewable in court."
Shortly after it won the competition last year, Kaplicky's project, dubbed "blob" or "octopus" for its organic shape, was criticised by President Vaclav Klaus, honorary chairman of the senior ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS). Since then, it has also been opposed by the ODS deputies to the Prague Assembly, including Prague Mayor Pavel Bem, who command a majority of votes in the assembly and thus can determine its positions.
(Ceske Noviny)
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