EdMin to probe drawing of EU funds

Prague, Jan 26 (CTK) - The Czech Education Ministry will check the drawing of finances from the EU funds itself for the time being after it cancelled a tender for legal services worth 99 million crowns, Radek Melichar, from the ministry, told CTK yesterday.

The office of Education Minister Josef Dobes (junior government Public Affairs, VV) will therefore increase the number of clerks in the project control section, and it will cooperate also with the Local Development Ministry, Melichar said

Dobes said previously he had asked the Local Development Ministry headed by Kamil Jankovsky (VV) to check 200 projects.

The Education Ministry will assess further steps as well, Melichar added.

Dobes declared a tender for a 99-million crown-order seeking external lawyers who would help solve the problems with drawing EU subsidies. They were primarily to secure a thorough supervision of public orders funded by EU money from the Research and Development for Innovations programme.

The tender was criticised as overpriced. Dobes has annulled it recently, saying the ministry's demands for the extent and character of legal service have changed.

"The audit's findings have clearly showed that our needs of legal services have considerably changed. We have over 6500 projects approved in this programme (Education for Competitiveness), and this is why we must focus on their control," Dobes said.

The Education Ministry has been criticised for long over the drawing of finances from the EU funds.

Citing mistakes on the Czech part, the EC has threatened to suspend the Czech drawing of money, a total of 53 billion crowns worth of subsidies, within an operational programme for which Dobes's ministry is responsible.

Dobes previously said if the ministry did not draw money from the EU funds, he would resign.

Dobes was also criticised over his personnel policy. Five people have occupied the post of the head of the ministry's section for EU operational programmes in one and a half year.

($1=19.597 crowns)