The Czech Republic must accelerate the drawing of certain subsidies, or it may lose part of the EU funds

Prague – The Czech Republic must accelerate the drawing of European subsidies from certain operational programs this year. Otherwise, there is a risk that it will not utilize the allocated funds in time and will lose part of the money. The risk mainly concerns the operational program Just Transition, which serves to improve conditions in regions that have been or are largely dependent on coal mining. In the case of insufficiently rapid drawing from this program, the Czech Republic could potentially lose one to four billion crowns. This follows from the Report on the risks and measures for the implementation of EU funds published by the Ministry for Regional Development (MMR).

According to the report, drawing from the Technology and Applications for Competitiveness program or the Fisheries program is also risky. Despite the risks, all programs should meet the so-called n+3 rule this year. This defines that the allocated support for projects for a given year must be utilized no later than in the following three calendar years.

The national coordination authority MMR proposed 21 measures in the report to simplify administration and improve drawing. “European funds are a crucial source of investment for the Czech Republic for regional development, modernization of transport, education, and support for entrepreneurship. Thanks to the adopted measures, we have a clear plan on how to ensure their most effective use this year as well,” said the Minister for Regional Development Petr Kulhánek (for STAN).

Further risk analysis and evaluation of measures will take place this autumn. For the programming period 2021 to 2027, 550.5 billion CZK has been allocated from the EU for the Czech Republic. (April 4)