The Czech Republic after 20 years in the EU: we are catching up with the West, also thanks to subsidies. Which regions are the best at it? | Czechia

Since 2004, when the Czech Republic became a member of the European Union, 1.9 trillion crowns have flowed into the country through the cohesion policy. According to data from the Ministry of Local Development (MMR), European funds supported 150,000 projects during that time.

Cohesion is a tool for growth, competitiveness and a dream difference between regions (…) Without this Union policy, the road to development on earth would be much more difficult and slower and some areas would be completely stagnant, said Minister for Local Development Ivan at the Cohesion Forum in Brussels in April Barto (Pirti).

As a concrete example of an area in which European funds helped, the MMR mentioned the improvement of transport infrastructure, thanks to which commuting distances to employment and bicycles have changed, according to the improvement of the state of the living environment or the repair of monuments.

In the course of the last closed seven-year period (2014 and 2020), the Czech Republic received the most European funds from these operational programs. About ten percent of European support went to transport projects, to support businesses and innovations, and within the framework of the so-called integrated program, to the sustainable development and improvement of public services.

A look at how individual Czech regions managed to use European money reveals well-known regional differences.