The Czech Republic has submitted its first
request to the European Commission (EC) to disburse funds from the National
Recovery Plan (NRP). If the EC's assessment of the achievement of all
milestones and targets is positive, the Czech Republic will receive
€1,066,888,563 out of €7.1 billion. If the Czech Republic continues to
implement its plan, it can draw down grants totalling €7.1 billion, spread over
nine payments. The NRP was created in response to the crisis caused by the
covid-19 pandemic and its economic impact. It consists of reforms and
investments that have the potential to steer the Czech Republic toward a green
and digital future.
The first payout is linked to reforms and
investments successfully implemented across many departments. These reforms and
investments include:
- A new construction law that will speed up and simplify the building
permitting process,
- a new law on courts and judges as part of anti-corruption reforms,
- over four thousand secondary and primary schools have been equipped with
digital devices. New educational programmes to strengthen digital literacy and
computational thinking were also approved,
- transport projects have resulted in increased crossings with improved
safety levels, the extension of constructed cycle paths, sidewalks, and
barrier-free routes, or the completion of upgraded railway bridges or tunnels.
The main objectives of the National Recovery
Plan are to increase economic prosperity and quality of life. The plan has six
pillars: digital transformation, environmental transformation and physical
infrastructure, education and labour market, research, development and
innovation, public administration, and health. The Recovery and Resilience
Instrument is at the heart of NextGenerationEU, which will provide €800 billion
to support investment and reform across the European Union.
Prepared by foreign office CzechTrade Belgium.
Source:
MPO.cz