RRF funded projects in Czechia

What’s in the plan?

The reforms and investments in Czechia’s plan, approved by Council on 8 September 2021, are helping it become more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities offered by the green and digital transitions.

^{*The original plan is entirely financed by RRF grants.}

• 91 investment streams and 33 reforms
• 42% of the plan will support climate objectives 
• 22% of the plan will foster the digital transition.    

The transformative impact of Czechia’s plan is the result of a strong combination of reforms and investments which address the specific challenges of Czechia. The reforms address bottlenecks to lasting and sustainable growth, while investments are targeted to accelerate the transition towards low-carbon and climate-resilient economy, to maximise the benefits of the digital transformation and improve the quality of public administration. The plan also aims at fostering social cohesion and resilience by increasing the availability and quality of healthcare, tackling inequalities in education and investing in pre-school facilities.

All measures have to be implemented within a tight time frame, as the Regulation establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility requires all milestones and targets within the national plans to be completed by August 2026.

In the area of climate and environmental policies, Czechia faces the challenge of increasing the share of renewable energies in the energy mix, improving the energy efficiency of its building stock and making mobility and the transport sector more sustainable. Nature protection, in particular with respect to biodiversity, forestry and water bodies, also requires more attention.

Key measures for the green transition

• Around 20% of the plan is allocated to investments in energy efficiency: 
  • €1.4 billion will finance large-scale renovation programmes to increase the energy efficiency of residential and public buildings, including childcare and long-term care facilities. 
  • €480 million will be invested in installation of renewable energy sources for both businesses and households.
• The plan supports green transition also through investments of €1.1 billion in sustainable mobility, notably in low-emission vehicles for the public and business sector, improving railway infrastructure, and promoting electric charging stations and cycling pathways.
• Further €141 million are to be invested in circular economy, including recycling infrastructure and support for circular economy solutions and water savings in businesses.

Digital challenges for Czechia include improving connectivity through very high-capacity networks, increasing the offer and uptake of e-government services and supporting the digitalisation of companies, notably SMEs. Advanced digital skills need to improve to address the growing need of organisations and companies to quickly go through the digital transformation.

Key measures for the digital transition

• Czechia’s recovery and resilience plan supports the digital transition with investments and reforms in digital skills, e-government, digital connectivity and digital transformation of businesses.
• Besides revamping the digital curricula in education, digital skills will be supported by investment of €585 million in digital equipment for schools, training for teachers, new university programmes in fast-growing digital fields and upskilling and reskilling courses for citizens.
• The plan is investing €585 million in the digital transformation and cyber-security of public administration, the justice system and health care.

The digital transition is also being supported by investing €650 million in the digital transformation of businesses, digital innovation hubs and very high-capacity networks and 5G networks.

Key macro-economic challenges for the Czechia’s economy include the industry’s exposure to the risks posed by automation and the green transition, the low levels of R&D funding for early-stage innovative firms, inefficiencies in public administration, growing inequalities in education, skill mismatch, low labour market participation of women and the low skilled.

Key measures in reinforcing economic and social resilience

• In order to reinforce economic and social resilience, the plan foresees:
  • €222 million to improve the business environment, in particular through improving access to finance for companies, reforming and accelerating construction licencing procedures, reinforcing anti-corruption measures and boosting cooperation between public and private research.
  • Reforms and investment of €393 million shall help ensure equal access to education, notably through increasing access to affordable pre-school care, reinforced support for disadvantaged schools and additional tutoring for children at risk of failure.
  • Czechia will also invest €823 million in increasing the resilience of healthcare services, be it through building new hospitals and long-term care facilities, acquiring new medical equipment, strengthening cancer screening programmes or rolling out e-Health.

More information on the event can be found here.

The plan is consistent with the challenges and priorities identified in the European Semester, the annual cycle of coordination and monitoring of each EU country’s economic policies. For a detailed explanation of the European Semester see the following link: The European Semester explained | European Commission (europa.eu)

Documents