Prague, Oct 13 (CTK) – The European Commission has approved the Czech plan with which European subsidies will sponsor various branches of research in the Czech Republic, Deputy Prime Minister for Research Pavel Belobradek (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) told journalists yesterday.
Thanks to this, the Czech Republic has fulfilled one of the conditions, specifically the National Research and Innovation Strategy for Smart Specialization (RIS3).
The crucial document is bound to the appeals of operational programmes in the sphere of research and science, Belobradek said.
Research, development and innovations are not to have problems when drawing money from European funds, he added.
In the years to come, up to 70 billion crowns will be spent on research and business in the most promising branches of the Czech economy from European subsidies as well as national, regional and private resources, Belobradek said.
The approval of the strategy was a preliminary condition for the drawing of European funds in several operational programmes, he added.
“There are some recommendations,” Belobradek said.
The national research strategy wants to combine the academic and businesses spheres as efficiently as possible, which has not been achieved in the Czech Republic, he added.
One of the EC conditions is that the strategy should be primarily applied in the regions.
The latest priority research spheres include digital technology, electrical engineering, advanced medicine and the environment.
The appeals from the operational programmes Business and Innovations for Competitiveness from the Industry and Trade Ministry, the Research, Development and Education from the Education Ministry and the Prague, a Growth Pole programme are to target these spheres, Belobradek said.
Critics warned in the spring that European subsidies for research could be jeopardised because the government section for research, science and innovation presented the final form of the report to the government too late.
The EC had reservations about its first version, but it is likely to be finished by the end of the year, Belobradek said.
($1=24.521 crowns)
