EU Commission endorses Czech Republic’s €7bn recovery and resilience plan

The European Commission has officially endorsed the Czech Republic’s recovery and resilience plan, a key step towards the EU disbursing €7 billion in grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The news came as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited Prague on Monday to discuss with Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and other government officials the bloc’s economic stimulus package.

The Czech Republic will receive the money from the EU’s extraordinary pandemic fund to support the implementation of crucial investment and reform measures outlined in the country’s recovery and resilience plan, helping the country emerge stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Czech plan forms part of an unprecedented coordinated EU response to the crisis, to address common European challenges by embracing the green and digital transitions, to strengthen economic and social resilience and the cohesion of the Single Market. The Commission’s analysis of the Czech plan considered, “in particular, whether the proposed investments and reforms support the green and digital transitions; contribute to effectively addressing challenges identified in the European Semester; and strengthen its growth potential, job creation and economic and social resilience.”