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 aid schemes

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 on St ate aid ( Act No. 215/ 2004 Col l.) 107 stat es t hat State aid m eans

aid as defined in Ar ticle 10 7 EU.

The Met hodological Recom m endat ion for St at e aid pr ovides 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

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

ESI Funds in t he programming period 2014-2020, however, t he d escribed 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

com m it ment given in this “Methodology” concern s GBER rules: large-scale suppor t

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

subject t o a com pu lsory evaluation according to t he EC m ethodology. 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 s of 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

Government by Resolut ion No. 597 of 9 August 2013 and is binding for all progr am s

with in all ESI Funds covered by t he Partnership Agreem ent. The Methodological

Guideline for Evaluations in t he 201 4-202 0 programm ing period is based on t he

method ological guidelin es presented by t he EC follow ing the General Regulat ion108 and

is supplement ed by the interpret at ion and requirem ents of the Nation al Coordination

Aut hority (also t he “ MRD-NOK” ) r eflect ing the experience of t he 2007-2013

program m ing period. Th e methodological guidelin e for evaluations fur ther 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, th is sect ion does not

app ly.

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 Competit ion ( OPC) is the national coordinating body in

the field of State aid. The powers of t he OPC as th e coordinating body in the area of

State aid are defined by Act No. 215/ 200 4 Coll. These powers consist of perfor m ing

coord inat ion, adv isory, consulting and m onit oring activities. The Of fice is co-aut hor of

107 ht tp s: //www.uohs.cz/ en/ state-aid/compet ence-in-t he-area-of-st at e-aid.htm l

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