The European Commission approved on Friday 30 July, under EU state aid rules, the Czech Republic’s regional aid map for the period from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2027.
The Czech map is the first map approved by the Commission under the revised regional aid guidelines (see EUROPE 12701/11).
The revised guidelines, adopted by the Commission on 19 April 2021 and which will enter into force on 1 January 2022, will enable Member States to help Europe’s least favoured regions to catch up and to reduce disparities in economic well-being, income, and unemployment, all of which are cohesion objectives at the heart of the Union.
The Czech regional aid map identifies the regions in the Czech Republic eligible for regional investment aid. The map also sets out the maximum aid intensities available to eligible regions.
According to the revised guidelines, regions covering 87.76% of the population of the Czech Republic will be eligible for regional investments.
The regions of Severozápad, Severovýchod, Střední Morava, and Moravskoslezsko are among the most disadvantaged regions in the EU, with a GDP per capita below 75% of the EU average. They are eligible for ‘a’ zone aid; the maximum aid intensities for large enterprises in ‘a’ zones are between 30 and 40%, depending on the GDP per capita of the ‘a’ zone concerned.
The regions of Střední Čechy, Jihozápad, and Jihovýchod can no longer be called ‘a’ zones, but are considered ‘c’ zones. The maximum aid intensities for large enterprises in these regions will be between 15 and 25%, with higher aid intensities applicable in the first half of the period and for regions bordering on ‘a’ zones.
In ‘a’ and ‘c’ zones, the maximum aid intensities may be increased by 10 percentage points for investments by medium-sized enterprises and by 20 percentage points for investments by small enterprises for their initial investments with eligible costs not exceeding €50 million.
Once a future territorial Just Transition Plan is in place in accordance with the Just Transition Fund Regulation, the Czech Republic will have the possibility to notify the Commission of an amendment to its regional aid map in order to apply a potential increase in the maximum aid intensity in future Just Transition areas in accordance with the provisions of the guidelines for ‘a’ zones. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)