EduMin admits it will not be able to draw EU funds

Prague, Sept 4 (CTK) - The Czech Republic is almost certain not to be able to draw four to five billion crowns within the EU education programme, Education Minister Petr Fiala said yesterday, adding that this is not supposed to affect the budget.

The Czech Republic may lose up to 750 million crowns within the "financial corrections."

He said the recipients of money from the operational programme Education for Competitiveness would not be harmed.

Mismanaged projects and delays are to blame for this state of affairs, Fiala said.

Deputy Education Minister for European Affairs Michal Zaoralek has said the ministry has filed more than three criminal complaints over scheming in public tenders.

The Education Ministry has been facing problems with drawing EU money for a long time.

The Education Ministry will try to receive "financial corrections" worth 750-1,000 million crowns through negotiations with the European Commission, Fiala said.

This is money the EC will not pay on approved projects, but it can be used in other calls.

If the talks with the EU fail, the Czech Republic will lose the money, but the sum can also be higher.

"The year 2013 is critical for the programme," said Fiala, adding that mistakes in the drawing of funds from 2011 would bring to bear in that year.

He said he would try and save the maximum of the means.

As of January, the management of the projects will be simpler and the ministry will negotiate on the transfer of money into a different programme, Fiala said.

The ministry has also stopped the preparation of the "individual national programmes" due to which it had to explain some dubious projects worth hundreds of million crowns, he added.

Due to the problems with drawing of money, the subsidy of 1.2 billion crowns within the programme Education for Competitiveness was discontinued.

The ministry has time until September to fulfill the recommendations of the European Commission and to send a proposal of corrections of the system.

Within the programme, the Czech Republic was to receive 1.83 billion euros (over 45 billion crowns) for various teaching projects until 2013.

However, the government has decided to transfer one billion crowns to the programme Human Resources and Employment managed by the Labour and Social Affairs Ministry. There was the danger that all the money will not be drawn in time.

A total of 8,800 projects were approved by August, including the "patterns" for elementary and secondary schools. Some 23 billion crowns have been paid from the programme, but this includes the money with which Czech authorities contribute to EU subsidies.

Besides, the Education Ministry administers the programme Research and Development for Innovation for science with 2.07 billion euros.

Fiala said the situation in this programme was good and 15.8 billion crowns were paid by August. There were 112 approved projects.

($1 = 19.805)