Country Profile: Czechia

• Author: Naldini, Andrea; Pompili, Marco; Peruccacci, Eleonora
• Pages: 118-122

118

5.COUNTRY PROFI LE: CZECH IA

5.1.Section 1- Nat ional rules for t he evaluat ion of State aidschemes

5.1.1.Obligation or lack ther eof to evaluate

Nat ion al obl iga ti ons and r ule s f or th e eva luat io n o f Sta te aid schem es ar e n ot dev elo ped.

The eva luat ion sys tem is ver y p rec isely set up at t he l evel of ESI F f und s, w her e a th ree-

stage ev aluat ion sy stem is imp lement ed. Howev er, nat iona l schemes a nd int ervent ions

are n ot systematically evaluat ed as the p olit ical will is lacking.

Nat ional legisla tion onSt ate aid ( Act No. 215/ 2004 Col l.) 107stat es t hat State aidm eans

aid as defined in Ar ticle 10 7 EU.

The Methodological Recommendation forState aidprovides an overview and

in ter pre tat ion of t he mos t i mp ort ant St at e aid ru les, inc ludi ng app rov al p roc edur es, and

t heir pr act ical im pac t o n p ubl ic sp end ing. Th e m eth odo logic al r ecom m enda tio n f or Stat e

aidfo cuses on th e ap plicat ion of t he State aidr ules to the p rov ision of su ppor t from th e

ESI Funds in the programming period 2014-2020, however, the described rules and

mechanisms are general ly v alid an d t heir app licat ion is unif ied except for th e sou rce of

sup por t pro vide d ( i. e. f or all nat ion al sour ces a nd not j ust fo r ESI F). The on ly eval uat ion

commitment given in this “Methodology” concerns GBER rules: large-scale support

program s, whose average annual budget exceeds EUR 150 million, and m ust then be

subject to a compulsory evaluation according to the EC methodology.The Managing

Aut horit y (or pr ovider ) mu st elabora te an evalu at ion plan fo r su ch supp ort pr ogr amm es

and submit it for approval accor ding to EC n otif ication proced ure.

I n t he Czech Rep ubl ic, th e Me th odol ogic al Gu ide lin e f or Evalu at ion sof ESIF pro gr amm es

in th e 2 014 –20 20 pro gra mm ing pe rio d w as f urt her el abor at ed a nd was app rov ed b y the

Governmentby Resolution No. 597 of 9 August 2013 and is binding for all programs

within all ESI Funds covered by the Partnership Agreement. The Methodological

Guideline for Evaluations in the 2014-2020 programming period is based on the

methodological guidelines presented by t he EC follow ing the General Regulation108and

is supplemented by the interpretation and requirements of the National Coordination

Authority(also the “MRD-NOK”) reflecting the experience of the 2007-2013

programming period. The methodological guideline for evaluations further elaborates

on the specific area of evaluat ion and development of the evaluat ion plan of programs

and t he Part nership Agr eement .

5.1.2.Procedu res to en force the o bligation

Since no national obligations are in force to evaluate State aid, this section does not

apply.

5.2.Section 2- Nat ional auth orities responsible for the evaluat ion of State aid

5.2.1.Nat ional organ isation for State aid

The Office for the Protection of Competition ( OPC)is the national coordinating bodyin

the field ofState aid. The powers of theOPC as the coordinating bodyin the area of

State aidare defined by Act No. 215/2004 Coll. These powers consist of performing

coordination, advisory, consulting and monit oring activities. The Office is co-author of

107https://www.uohs.cz/en/state-aid/competence-in-the-area-of-state-aid.html

108See Arti cles 5 4-57 and 114 of t he Genera l Regu lati on of ESIF n .13 03/ 201 3.