OPINION / According to an April survey by the Median agency, almost 70% of Czech citizens think that the Czech Republic needs to modernize. That’s a pretty convincing number. And I am one of those people too. According to the same survey, a similar proportion of people think that the Czech Republic needs reforms and investments.
The good news in this regard is that the European Commission has released a payment in the amount of almost 18 billion crowns, which are to be used for investments within the National Recovery Plan. I am happy about it, because these funds will go to the development of infrastructure, digitization or education, among other things. These are strategic areas that we must develop so that our economy reaches a better level and the Czech Republic thus strengthens its competitiveness.
I believe that investments in research and development play a very fundamental role in this direction. The average of OECD countries for 2022 was 2.71% of GDP in this regard. In the Czech Republic it was 1.99% of GDP. And for example in such Israel it was 5.55% of GDP. And that is the reason why many look up to Israel. This country is a leader (not only) in the field of IT security, but this also clearly contributes to its ability to survive in an unstable region where it has to deal with a whole range of security threats.
For a more concrete idea, I will state that total investments in science and research reached 133.3 billion crowns in 2022. Most of it (61%) was corporate investment, the state contributes roughly a third and the rest comes from the Union budgets.
I consider it a really good sign that companies are taking investment in science and research seriously. But at the same time, I think we need to do more, ideally double the current amount of investment in science and research. And if national resources are not enough, we need to push for changes at EU level.
Funding for this sector from the National Recovery Plan should definitely continue, but the Green Deal should also be used for this, or we should not lose sight of this priority. Yes, infrastructure development is important for the modernization of the economy, but only innovation can lead to qualitative changes in the economy of the entire Union.
The author is a candidate for the European Parliament for the SPOLU coalition.
