EUROPEAN UNION FUNDS: EUR 26.7 billion for the Czech Republic

What Is the European Cohesion Policy?

Through the cohesion policy, the European Union strives for balanced economic and social development of all its Member States and their regions. The objective is to mitigate the differences in the living and economic standard between the poorer and the richer EU countries and at the same time to increase the ability of the European Union as a whole to face the challenges of the 21st century. In addition to sustainable growth, innovations and competitiveness, the interest is focused on development of an open, flexible and cohesive society with a high employment rate.

This effort is collectively called the European Policy of Economic and Social Cohesion (ESC), or just the cohesion policy. In addition to the agricultural policy, ESC is one of the most important European agendas and the European Union spends more than a third of its common budget on it.

What Are the European Union Funds?

The EU funds represent the main realization tool for the European policy of economic and social cohesion. Through the funds, finances intended for mitigation of economic and social differences between Member States and their regions are distributed. The European Union has three main funds available: Structural Funds:    European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) European Social Fund (ESF) Cohesion Fund (CF)

How Much Can the Czech Republic Get from the European Funds?

For the running program period of 2007-2013, the Czech Republic has EUR 26.69 billion available from the European funds. In order to get an idea of how large a sum this amount represents, we can equate it with approximately three quarters of the annual state budget of the Czech Republic.

What is an Operational Program?

Each Member State negotiates operational programs (OP) with the European Commission, which are the intermediating interstages between the three main European funds (ERDF, ESF, CF) and the specific beneficiaries of the financial support in Member States and regions. These are strategic documents representing an intersection of priorities of the EU economic and social cohesion policy and individual interests of the Member States.

For the current period, the Czech Republic has negotiated 26 operational programs. Eight of them are focused thematically (for example on transport, science and education, employment, environment) and seven of them geographically (on the Region of Central Bohemia, Central Moravia, Moravia-Silesia, etc.). The other OPs allow cross-border, interregional and supraregional cooperation or provide a technical, administrative and research background for cohesion policy implementation.

How to Get Financial Support from the EU

The operational programs, being official documents approved by the European Commission, define what problems the Czech Republic wants to solve using the finances received from the European budget and what it wants to achieve in the program period 2007-2013. They guarantee the projects to be financed are not selected on a random basis but according to whether they help to achieve the plans of the cohesion policy.

An OP is divided into priority axes that define more specifically what the finances assigned to the concerned operational program may be spent on. The priority axes further consist of areas of support or even sub-areas of support respectively.

Each entity that wants to ask for financial support from the EU funds has to present a project to the managing authority of the operational program. Managing authorities of operational programs are the departmental ministries in relation to thematically focused OPs and regional councils of cohesion regions, which are territorial units responsible to one or several Czech regions established in order to receive subsidies from the European funds, in relation to territorially defined OPs.

The project is a document showing how the applicant's activities will contribute to the objectives laid down in the operational program and thereby also to realization of the European policy of economic and social cohesion. Therefore the applicant has to be familiar with the implementation documents of the operational program and to follow its priority axes. You can find links to websites of managing authorities, where these documents are easily available, in the section Contacts.

The managing authorities of operational programs regularly publish time-limited calls to present projects within individual priority axes and areas of support. The easiest way is to monitor the calls on the websites of operational programs or here in the section Current calls.

Who Can Ask for the Money?

Projects may be presented by municipalities, regions, ministries, entrepreneurs, owners of transport infrastructure, non-profit organizations, schools, research centers and others.

What Projects Are Financed from EU Funds?

Development of Transport and Transport Infrastructure

For example, construction and repairs of roads, railways, motorways, by-passes, river infrastructure, development of transfer terminals for integrated public transport, purchase of vehicles of municipal public transportation, etc.

Environmental Protection

For example, development of wastewater treatment plants, drinking water distribution systems, regeneration greenery planting, wind power plants installation, development of sorted waste collection systems, investment support of education, consulting and information centers of environmental education, etc.

Development of Towns and Municipalities, Cross-Border Cooperation

For example, concourse improvements including ornamental greenery planting, infrastructure for provision of social, educational and health services, infrastructure for provision of interest and leisure activities, cross-border cooperation in the area of development of human relations, social and cultural activities, regeneration of tenements, etc.

Tourist Trade Development

For example, development of accommodation facilities, reconstruction and renovation of open-air folk museums, museums, etc., development of cycling paths and routes useful for the tourist trade, presentation of tourist destinations, etc.

Development of Human Resources

For example, retraining courses for the unemployed, provision of social services, improvement of foreign language teaching quality, development of a further training system for pedagogical employees, innovation of educating programs, education of research and development employees, support of further training, etc.

Improvement of Quality of Services Provided by Public Administration and Self-Government

For example, development of data networks for needs of public administration services, implementation of modern methods of increasing effectiveness, quality and transparency of public administration, etc.

Support of Enterprise, Science and Research

For example, support of establishment of companies, purchase of production technologies, support for patent activity of companies, scientific-research institutions and universities, construction and further development of existing industrial parks, support for development of consulting in the area of eco-technologies and environmental management systems, support for marketing services, etc.

Rural Development Program

In contrast to the period 2000-2006, the structural funds no longer include support for competitiveness of agriculture, forestry and rural development. These areas are financed through the Rural Development Program financed from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). For detailed information about the Rural Development Program, please see the website of the Ministry of Agriculture.