REPORT: Prague Climate Talks: Just Transition Fund: a chance for Czech coal regions?

• The second Prague Climate Talks debate of this year took place online on Tuesday 16th June from 4pm. This project is co-organised by EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy and Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Prague, under the auspices of the UN Information Centre Prague. This debate ran in cooperation with Eurocenter Ústí nad Labem and Eurocenter Karlovy Vary.
• The topic of discussion was the Just Transition Fund and the speakers were Luděk Niedermayer, MEP, Karel Tichý from the Ministry for Regional Development and Josef Schwarz from the European Commission. The debate was moderated by Kateřina Davidová from EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy.
• The recording of the debate is available on the Facebook page EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy.

Josef Schwarz began by introducing the Just Transition Mechanism, which the Just Transition Fund is part of. He also explained that due to the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of the fund was increased four times. The Czech Republic should now get approximately CZK 90 billion on top of the regular EU budget. According to Mr Schwarz, it is necessary for the Czech administration is well in control of the development of projects to be financed from this fund. It should also ensure that novel innovative ideas are supported and brought to life through this instrument. The risks of misuse of the fund are low, according to Mr Schwarz, thanks to robust control mechanisms in place.

The report can be downloaded through the PDF button on the right.