Pierre Perrin-Monlouis Dernière mise à jour: 20 octobre 2021
New EU funds for cohesion policy will help make Europe the most dynamic and competitive knowledge based economy by bringing growth and jobs in the regions, noted Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner in her speech to the Czech mayors, delivered this morning at the Parliament of the Czech Republic. During her visit in Prague, Commissioner Hübner is meeting Czech Prime Minister, Jiøí Paroubek, Vice Premier and Minister of Finance, Bohuslav Sobotka, Minister of Regional Development, Radko Martinek and several Czech Members of the European Parliament. She will be discussing how the Czech Republic can best prepare to receive and make the most out of significant EU funds while keeping balances, interest rates and inflation under control.
Speaking to the mayors Danuta Hübner said that “cities can be the recipients of EU aid and be responsible for the implementation of EU co-financed projects. Smaller municipalities can join forces and develop common projects. Actions such as upgrading public infrastructure – waste water treatment plant, tourism infrastructure – or creating conditions for an optimal performance of other (private) partners (development of industrial park) can be prepared and implemented with EU support”.
“Regional policy has a very important role to play in boosting competitiveness and growth in Europe. I am happy to see that the Czech Republic has already made significant economic progress by investing more in its infrastructure and people. It is precisely this progress we are building on”, noted Commissioner Hübner encouraging Czech national and regional authorities to prepare carefully for the next programming round.
Specific attention is given to the impact on the external and internal balance of the economy of the Czech Republic and potential consequences on national exchange rates, interest rates and inflation. Commissioner Hübner has asked the Czech authorities to maximise the growth and jobs benefits of funding through EU Cohesion Policy and seek to minimise the risks of overheating of the economy due to the influx of EU funding, which will be at unprecedented levels. It is estimated that probably a third of the projected growth in the new Member States could be attributed to structural and cohesion funding.
Background
For the 2004-2006 period, the Czech Republic is eligible under Objective 1 – except for Prague which benefits from Objective 2 and Objective 3 programmes – with a total allocation of €1,685 million from the Structural Funds and €945 million from the Cohesion Fund.
Further information:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/regional_policy/index_en.htm
