Czech Republic promises to try to spend EU money

The Czech regional development minister, Pavel Nemec, assured European Commissioner Michel Barnier that the Czech Republic would try to spend money allocated for the country in EU's ISPA funds for regional development and environmental protection. There are 50 million euros remaining in the ISPA fund that the Czech Republic is required to spend by the end of this year or forfeit completely. The Czech Republic has had problems presenting feasible environmental projects, especially given the fact that financial support from EU funds is conditional on part of the budget being covered by the recipient country.