Czechia will use EU’s Just Transition Fund for large ‘risky’ projects

Czechia wants to devote a larger part of the EU’s Just Transition Fund to large-scale strategic projects that have long faced criticism and are connected with significant risks, said Czech Deputy Environment Minister Jan Kříž, adding that projects must undergo a robust approval process to receive the funding.

The Just Transition Fund was established in 2021-2027 multi-annual financial framework (MFF) to support regions with heavy industry during their green transformation. With its three coal mining regions, Czechia will receive €1.7 billion.

The EU funding needs to be used quickly – 70% of the fund must be spent by the end of 2026. Due to the strict deadline, the Moravia-Silesian region decided to spend about half of the allocated money on large, so-called strategic projects.

“Implementation is not easy because of strict rules. It is very ambitious to certify 70% of the EU money by the end of 2026. That is why we had to come up with, let’s say, an innovative way of implementation,” said Kříž.

However, NGOs have criticised strategic projects for a non-transparent selection process, huge spending and the fact that some projects were prepared by companies operating in the fossil industry.

“The original intention of the European Commission was to support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in particular, thereby increasing the diversity and resilience of the local economy. Supporting large companies through strategic projects rather preserves the current situation,” Ondřej Kopečný, director of the Czech branch of Transparency International, warned during a conference on regional policy organised in the Czech city of Ostrava in mid-November.

“The controversial topic is productive investments by large companies. The Commission does not support this, but an exception has been made because large enterprises are key for some regions,” Petr Votoupal from the EU Commission’s DG REGIO confirmed.

The Environment Ministry admits that certain risks are associated with strategic projects. “I have to say that strategic projects are the biggest risk of the program because some of them have very long permitting processes, we have to push for speed,” Kříž said.

(Kateřina Zichová, Aneta Zachová | Euractiv.cz)