COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019 Country Report - CZECH REPUBLIC Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019: A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life
Date: 2019-04-04
Institutions: Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission
Subjects: Czechia, EU environmental policy, application of EU law, climate change policy, environmental law, environmental protection, governance, green economy, public health, quality of the environment

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 4.4.2019  SWD(2019) 119 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT The EU Environmental Implementation Review 2019      Country Report - CZECH REPUBLIC             Accompanying the document Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions Environmental Implementation Review 2019:  A Europe that protects its citizens and enhances their quality of life    {COM(2019) 149 final} - {SWD(2019) 111 final} - {SWD(2019) 112 final} - {SWD(2019) 113 final} - {SWD(2019) 114 final} - {SWD(2019) 115 final} - {SWD(2019) 116 final} - {SWD(2019) 117 final} - {SWD(2019) 118 final} - {SWD(2019) 120 final} - {SWD(2019) 121 final} - {SWD(2019) 122 final} - {SWD(2019) 123 final} - {SWD(2019) 124 final} - {SWD(2019) 125 final} - {SWD(2019) 126 final} - {SWD(2019) 127 final} - {SWD(2019) 128 final} - {SWD(2019) 129 final} - {SWD(2019) 130 final} - {SWD(2019) 131 final} - {SWD(2019) 132 final} - {SWD(2019) 133 final} - {SWD(2019) 134 final} - {SWD(2019) 135 final} - {SWD(2019) 136 final} - {SWD(2019) 137 final} - {SWD(2019) 138 final} - {SWD(2019) 139 final}  
 
 
This  report  has  been  written  by  the  staff  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Environment,  European  Commission. 
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1 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table of Contents 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. 3 

PART I: THEMATIC AREAS ........................................................................................................................ 4 

1. 

TURNING  THE  EU  INTO  A  CIRCULAR,  RESOURCE-EFFICIENT,  GREEN  AND  COMPETITIVE  LOW-
CARBON ECONOMY ........................................................................................................................ 4 

Measures towards a circular economy ................................................................................................. 4 
Waste management .............................................................................................................................. 7 
Climate change ...................................................................................................................................... 8 

2. 

PROTECTING, CONSERVING AND ENHANCING NATURAL CAPITAL ................................................. 11 

Nature and biodiversity ....................................................................................................................... 11 
Maintaining and restoring ecosystems and their services .................................................................. 12 
Estimating natural capital ................................................................................................................... 13 
Invasive alien species .......................................................................................................................... 14 
Soil protection ..................................................................................................................................... 14 

3. 

ENSURING CITIZENS' HEALTH AND QUALITY OF LIFE ...................................................................... 16 

Air quality ............................................................................................................................................ 16 
Industrial emissions ............................................................................................................................. 17 
 ................................................................................................................................................. 18 
Noise 
Water quality and management ......................................................................................................... 19 
Chemicals ............................................................................................................................................ 21 
Making cities more sustainable ........................................................................................................... 22 

PART II: ENABLING FRAMEWORK: IMPLEMENTATION TOOLS ................................................................. 24 

4. 

GREEN  TAXATION,  GREEN  PUBLIC  PROCUREMENT,  ENVIRONMENTAL  FUNDING  AND 
INVESTMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 24 

Green taxation and environmentally harmful subsidies ..................................................................... 24 
Green public procurement .................................................................................................................. 25 
Environmental funding and investments ............................................................................................ 26 

5. 

STRENGTHENING ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE ....................................................................... 29 

Information, public participation and access to justice ...................................................................... 29 
Compliance assurance ......................................................................................................................... 30 
Effectiveness of environmental administrations................................................................................. 31 
International agreements ................................................................................................................... 33 
Sustainable development and the implementation of the UN SDGs .................................................. 34 

2 

 
 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Executive summary 

Czech Republic and the Environmental Implementation 
Review (EIR) 

In the 2017 EIR, the main challenges identified for Czech 
Republic  for  the  implementation  of  EU  environmental 
policy and law were: 

 

 

 

to  create  an  effective  and 
legally  compliant 
Environmental  Impact  Assessment  (EIA)  process, 
including  other  environmental  assessments,  which 
would  build  upon  societal  acceptance  and  use  best 
practices; 
to  put  in  place  the  infrastructure  and  conditions 
(including  reliable  statistics  in  the  waste  sector)  to 
move towards a recycling economy; and 
to  improve  air  quality  in  critical  regions  of  the 
country,  especially  in  urban  areas,  while  promoting 
the right set of measures. 

In  July  2017,  Czech  Republic  organised  an  EIR  National 
Dialogue in July 2017 focusing on the main findings of the 
2017  EIR.  This  also  included  a  high-level  panel  with 
stakeholders,  including  journalists.  Czech  Republic  also 
used  this  opportunity  to  present  its  work  in  the  field  of 
international cooperation (CITES). Sectoral dialogues were 
also held in the context of the EIR framework, namely the 
Nature  Dialogue  in  September  2018  and  the  Clean  Air 
Dialogue in November 2018. 

In 2017, the Commission launched the TAIEX-EIR Peer-to-
Peer (EIR P2P), as a new practical tool facilitating peer-to-
peer  learning  between  environmental  authorities.  Czech 
Republic  hosted  a  workshop  on  reducing  emissions  in 
road  transport  and  a  workshop  focused  on  plastics  in 
circular  economy.  The  Czech  experts  also  participated  in 
workshops organised in other Member States. 

Progress on meeting challenges since the 2017 EIR 

Despite making progress in decoupling the economy from 
environmental pressures, as  underlined by the OECD the 
Czech Republic is facing new challenges. It is only making 
slow  progress  in  moving  towards  the  circular  economy 
despite  having  more  opportunities  to  do  so  than  other 
similar Member States. 

The transposition of EU legislation is in principle on track. 
However,  there  is  a  tendency  to  limit  this  purely  to 
obligations, rather than embracing the wider objectives of 
EU  legislation.  Although  previous  EIA  conformity  issues 
have  been  addressed,  new  amendments  to  Czech 
national 
legislation  have  partly  weakened  public 
participation  rights  in  general  with  knock  on  effects  on 
access  to  justice.  Despite  some  efforts  to  streamline  the 

decision-making  processes,  they  remain 
lengthy  and 
the 
complex  which  weakens 
administration.  The  further  changes  to  the  permitting 
procedures that have been announced that could weaken 
public participation should be avoided.  

transparency  of 

the 

The 2019 EIR report confirms that although progress was 
the  environmental 
made,  especially 
improving 
infrastructure,  Czech  Republic 
still  has  a  mixed 
performance  in  implementing  environmental  policies 
effectively.  

in 

Czech  Republic  is  on  track  to  meeting  the  EU’s  2020 
recycling  target  —  in  line  with  the  methodology  chosen 
to comply — however much more effort is still needed to 
comply  with  the  recycling  targets  set  for  the  post-2020 
period  as  the  main  waste  treatment  option  remains 
landfilling. 

Air  quality  remains  a  significant  problem.  Although  the 
national  scheme  for  exchanging  boilers  in  individual 
households, supported by EU funds, is being implemented 
in  certain  regions,  domestic  solid  fuels  combustion 
remains  the  largest  source  of  air  pollution.  Particulate 
matter,  nitrogen  dioxide,  ozone  and  benzo(a)pyrene 
cause  the  main  concern  and  health  risks  for  the  Czech 
citizens. 

is 

the  most 

from 
The  most  significant  pressure  on  rivers 
is 
from 
anthropogenic  pressure  and  diffuse  pollution 
agriculture 
significant  pressure  on 
groundwater  bodies.  The  expected  progress  resulting 
from planned measures is low and even though there has 
been  some  progress,  not  all  significant  pressures  are 
addressed, 
hydromorphological 
pressures.  

including 

notably 

remain 

The  main  pressures  on  nature  and  the  Natura  2000 
land 
network 
management  (both  the  abandonment  of 
land  and 
intensification  of  farming),  forestry  and  intense  fishpond 
farming. 

in  agricultural 

the  changes 

Examples of good practice:  

 

 

The  national  scheme,  supported  by  EU  funds,  for 
replacing  around  80 000  old  and  poor  quality 
household  boilers,  out  of  300  000  households  using 
solid fuels; 
The  national  network  of  environmental  education 
centres, which is a unique network of more than 100 
non-governmental centres, set up over past 20 years 
in all regions of the country. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Part I: Thematic areas 

1. Turning the EU into a circular, resource-efficient, green and 

competitive low-carbon economy 

Measures towards a circular economy 

The  Circular  Economy  Action  Plan  emphasises  the  need 
to  move  towards  a  life-cycle-driven  ‘circular’  economy, 
reusing  resources  as  much  as  possible  and  bringing 
residual  waste  close  to  zero.  This  can  be  facilitated  by 
developing  and  providing  access  to  innovative  financial 
instruments and funding for eco-innovation. 

Following  the  adoption  of  the  Circular  Economy  Action 
Plan in 2015 and the setting up of a related stakeholder 
platform  in  2017,  the  European  Commission  adopted  a 
new  package  of  deliverables  in  January  20181.  This 
included  additional  initiatives  such  as:  (i)  an  EU  strategy 
for plastics; (ii) a Communication on how to address the 
interplay  between  chemical,  product  and  waste 
legislation; (iii) a report on critical raw materials; and (iv) 
a  framework  to  monitor  progress  towards  a  circular 
economy2. 

The circular (secondary) use of material in Czech Republic 
was 7.6 % in 2016 (below the EU-28 average at 11.7% — 
however, this has been steadily increasing since 2010). 

In  the  2017  Special  Eurobarometer  468  on  attitudes  of 
EU  citizens  towards  the  environment,  84 %  of  Czech 
people  said  they  were  concerned  about  the  effects  of 
plastic  products  on  the  environment  (EU-28  average  is 
87 %).  Some  85 %  said  they  were  worried  about  the 
impact of chemicals (EU-28 average 90 %)3. 

Czech  Republic  is  performing  below  the  EU  average  on 
resource productivity4 (how efficiently the economy uses 
material  resources  to  produce  wealth),  with  1.131 
EUR/kg  in  2017  (EU  average  is  2.04  EUR/kg).  Figure  1 
shows a modest increase since 20095. 

The  country  has  no  specifically  dedicated  national 
circular  economy  strategy  or  roadmap  yet.  Preparations 
for establishing a national strategy called "Circular Czech 
Republic  2040"  are  still  at  an  early  stage,  adoption  is 
expected in 2020. 

1 European Commission, 2018 Circular Economy Package. 
2 COM(2018) 029. 
3 European Commission, Special 486 Eurobarometer: Attitudes of 
European citizens towards the environment, 2017. 
4 Resource productivity is defined as the ratio between gross domestic 
product (GDP) and domestic material consumption (DMC). 
5 European Commission, Eurostat, Resource productivity. 

Nevertheless,  some  of  the  circular  economy  measures 
are  addressed  in  the  existing  strategies.  For  example, 
transitioning  to  a  circular  economy  is  one  of  the  main 
objective  in  the  country’s  new  waste  management  plan 
for the 2015-2024 period. 
Figure 1: Resource productivity 2010-20176 

Another document is the Secondary raw material policy7, 
which  deals  with  an  effective  and  sustainable  using  of 
secondary  raw  materials  as  a  substitution  of  a  primary 
sources.  

Czech  Republic  has  some  circular  economy  initiatives  in 
place8.  The  main  challenges  that  the  country  faces  on 
eco-innovation  and  the  circular  economy  are  related  to 
the  research  and  innovation  system.  The  education  and 
public  research  systems  have  taken  some  steps  to 
address this challenge9. 

Eco-innovation  and  circular  economy  developments  in 

6 European Commission, Eurostat, Resource productivity. 
7 Secondary raw material policy was adopted by the Government in 
September 2014. Specific tasks are defined in the Action Plan for 
implementation of Secondary raw materials policy. The ongoing Action 
Plan was adopted by the Government in May 2017 and the goal of the 
mentioned document is the effective and sustainable extraction and 
utilization of secondary raw materials, particularly metals, glass, paper, 
plastics, construction and demolition materials and others. 
8 For example, the Epsilon programme managed by the Technology 
Agency of the Czech Republic (TACR), supports projects that develop 
industrial applications using new technologies and new materials in the 
energy, environment and transport sectors, like project NANOBIOWAT 
as a good practise. The Czech Republic is also member state of Make it 
Work initiative which is currently focused on the Circular Economy and 
Innovation related to it. 
9 Good example is material published by Ministry of Environment for 
schools regarding food waste prevention and for municipalities 
regarding waste prevention. 

4 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

sustainable 

transport,  and 

(ii) waste  management 

Czech  Republic  are  primarily  focused  on  buildings  and 
infrastructure, 
several 
environmental  topics,  such  as  (i) water  efficiency  and 
wastewater  treatment, 
(e.g. 
municipal  and  food  waste)  and  resource  efficiency  (e.g. 
reuse  and  recycling  of  construction  and  demolition 
waste, and (iii) reduced resource consumption). In recent 
years,  there  appears  to  have  been  rapid  growth  in 
innovation in bio- and nanotechnologies. 
The  number  of  EU  Ecolabel  products  and  EMAS10-
licensed  organisations  (in  a  country  can  give  a  rough 
measurement  of  the  transition  to  a  circular  economy. 
These two indicators show to what extent this transition 
is  engaging  the  private  sector  and  other  national 
stakeholders.  These  two 
indicators  also  show  the 
commitment of public authorities to policies that support 
the  circular  economy.  As  of  September  2018,  Czech 
Republic  had  94  products  and  11  licences  registered  in 
the EU Ecolabel scheme, out of 71707 products and 2167 
licences in the EU, showing a rather low take-up of these 
licences11.  Moreover,  as  of  May  2018,  24  organisations 
from Czech Republic were registered in EMAS12. 

SMEs and resource efficiency 

Czech  Republic  scores  above  the  EU-28  average 
in 
environmental  issues  for  small  businesses,  as  shown  in 
Figure  2.  Percentage  of  SMEs  with  a  turnover  share  of 
more than 50% generated by green products or services 
is  above  the  EU  average.  However,  the  public  support 
system  cannot  be  easily  accessed  and  it  supports  a 
smaller number of companies than in the EU-28 average. 

The  latest  Eurobarometer  on  ‘SMEs,  resource  efficiency 
and green markets’13 asked companies about both recent 
resource-efficiency actions they had taken and additional 
resource  efficiency  actions  they  planned  to  take  in  the 
next  2  years.  The  Eurobarometer  then  compared  these 
responses with responses given to the same questions in 
2015.  The  proportion  of  companies  that  undertook 
resource  efficiency 
is  generally  around  the  EU-28 
average. However,  33 % (+7 %) of companies claimed to 
have  taken  measures  to  design  products  that  are  easier 
to maintain and repair — this is one of the highest values 
in  the  EU-28.  Ecological  design  is  also  a  field  with  much 
more  ambition  than  the  across  the  EU  (34 %  vs  an  EU 
average of18 %). 

10 EMAS is the European Commission’s Eco-Management and Audit 
Scheme – a programme to encourage organisations to behave in a more 
environmentally sustainable way). 
11 European Commission, Ecolabel Facts and Figures. 
12 European Commission, Eco-Management and Audit Scheme. 
13 Flash Eurobarometer 456 ‘SME, resource efficiency and green 
markets’ January 2018. The 8 dimensions were Save energy; Minimise 
waste; Save materials; Save Water; Recycle by reusing material 
internally; Design products easier to maintain, repair or reuse; Use 
renewable energy; Sell scrap materials to another company. 

Figure 2: Environmental performance of SMEs14 

Some  37  %  of  Czech  companies  state  that  grants  and 
subsidies are useful. However, only 18 % deem technical 
consultancy  or  financial  consultancy  to  be  useful.  The 
highest  value  (30 %) 
is  assigned  to 
technology  demonstration.  Some  26  %  of  Czech 
companies  deem  support  to  enable  them  to  cooperate 
with other companies to be useful, among the highest in 
the EU. 

in  the  EU-28 

There  is  still  substantial  interest  in  the  Czech  business 
community  in  investing  in  resource  efficiency.  External 
cooperation  is  rather  frequent  and  companies  support 
the  idea  of  getting  assistance  to  cooperate  better  with 
partners.  Companies  draw  on  a  wide  range  of  partners, 
primarily 
in  the  private  sector  for  consultancy  and 
finance. This mature support system is undergoing a shift 
from  being  driven  by  public  policy 
inherent 
motivation. 
technology 
in 
demonstration  and  the  high  motivation  in  ecological 
design  open  up  avenues  for  the  next  generation  of 
support for the transition to a circular economy. 

interest 

high 

The 

to 

in  the 

However,  as  also  highlighted 
latest  OECD 
Environmental  Performance  Review  (EPR)15,  the  strong 
industrial  base  and  reliance  on  coal  place  the  country 
among  the  most  energy-  and  carbon-intensive  in  the 
OECD.  Progressing  towards  a  low-carbon  economy  will 

14 European Commission, 2018 SBA fact sheet – Czech Republic, p.14.  
15 OECD Environmental Performance Reviews, Czech Republic 2018. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

commitment 

cost-effective 

strengthening  political 

and 
require 
implementing  more 
environmental 
policies.  For  example,  despite  two  Czech  regions 
becoming the pilot regions of the EU’s Platform for Coal 
Regions  in  Transition16,  coal  remains  in  the  country’s 
energy mix. 

economy. 
Figure 4:  Czech Republic’s Eco-Innovation Performance19 

Eco-innovation 
Czech  Republic  ranked  13th  on  the  European  Innovation 
Scoreboard  2018,  falling  by  2.9 %  since  201017.  The 
country  ranks  18th  out  of  the  28  EU  Member  States  for 
its  eco-innovation  performance  according  to  the  2017 
Eco-innovation  scoreboard,  with  an  overall  score  of  97, 
which is 3 % below the overall EU average (see Figure 3). 
Figure 3: 2017 Eco-innovation index (EU=100)18 

The  main  areas  of  progress  are:  (i) energy  efficiency, 
(ii) renewable energy, (iii) waste management (industrial, 
municipal),  (iv) sustainable  transport,  (v)  material  and 
resource efficiency (reuse, recycling), (vi) new innovative 
technologies, and (vii) bio and nanotechnologies. 

collaboration 

research 
through 

There  are  several  funding  programmes  that  support 
innovation  activities  through  agencies  and  ministries. 
Some  newer  ones  include:  (i) the  DELTA  programme, 
which  has  been  operating  since  2013,  and  aims  to 
and 
support 
applied 
in 
experimental  development  projects 
joint 
projects involving companies and research organisations 
supported  by  the  Technology  Agency  of  the  Czech 
Republic  (TACR);  (ii) the  THETA programme, approved in 
2016,  which  supports  applied  research,  experimental 
(iii) the  ZETA 
development,  and 
programme,  also  approved  in  2016,  which  focuses  on 
supporting  cooperation  between  the  academia  and 
companies. The Ministry of Environment also launched in 
2017  two  calls  from  the  NPE  to  support  pilot  “eco-
innovation” projects with an allocation of CZK 100 million 
each20. 

innovation;  and 

There  are  still  several  barriers  at  the  policy  level,  in  the 
area of the human resources, in targeted funding for eco-
innovation and circular economy. 

Over the past 2 years, there have been some changes in 
the  policy  area  and  in  funding  of  R&D,  with  some  new 
programmes  to  finance  innovation  and  development, 
and more initiatives to  support  different  stakeholders in 
eco-innovation  and  in  their  transition  to  the  circular 

16 European Commission, No region left behind: launch of the Platform 
for Coal Regions in Transition.  
17 European Commission, European Innovation Scoreboard 2018, p. 15. 
18 European Commission, Eco Innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation 
Scoreboard 2017. 

2019 priority action 

 

The  Czech  Republic  is  encouraged  to  complete, 
adopt and implement a national Strategy on Circular 
Economy. 

19 European Commission, Eco Innovation Observatory: Eco-Innovation 
Scoreboard 2017. 
20 Ministry of the Environment; National Environment Program.  

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Figure  5  depicts  the  municipal  waste  by  treatment  in 
Czech  Republic  in  terms  of  kg  per  capita,  which  shows 
almost a 9 % increase of the recycling rates compared to 
201425. 

Recycling  of  municipal  waste  accounts  for  34 %,  still 
below the EU average (46 %) as shown in Figure 4. While 
Czech  Republic  is  already  on  track  to  meet  the  2020 
recycling  target  using  the  methodology  chosen  to 
comply26,  much  more  effort  will  have  to  put 
into 
complying  with  the  recycling  targets  set  for  the  post-
2020 period27. 
Figure 6: Recycling rate of municipal waste 2010-201728 

Waste management 

Turning waste into a resource is supported by: 
(i)  fully 
legislation,  which 
implementing  EU  waste 
includes  the  waste  hierarchy,  the  need  to  ensure 
separate  collection  of  waste,  the 
landfill  diversion 
targets, etc.; 
 (ii) reducing waste generation and waste generation per 
capita in absolute terms; and  
(iii)  limiting  energy  recovery  to  non-recyclable  materials 
and  phasing  out  landfilling  of  recyclable  or  recoverable 
waste. 

This  section  focuses  on  management  of  municipal 
waste21  for  which  EU  law  sets  mandatory  recycling 
targets22. 

Figure  5:  Municipal  waste  by  treatment  in    Czech 
Republic 2010-201723 

Landfilling  remains  the  main  treatment  option  for 
municipal  waste.  It  accounts  for  48.5 %  of  waste  being 
treated, a small decrease from 2014, and  it is above the 
EU average of 24 %. 

lower 

Municipal  waste  generation  in  Czech  Republic  remains 
average 
much 
(344 kg/y/inhabitant 
around 
487 kg/y/inhabitant on average)24. 

to 
compared 

compared 

EU 
to 

the 

21 Municipal waste consists of mixed waste and separately collected 
waste from households and from other sources, where such waste is 
similar in nature and composition to waste from households. This is 
without prejudice to the allocation of responsibilities for waste 
management between public and private sectors. 
22 See Article 11.2 of Directive 2008/98/EC. This Directive was amended 
in 2018 by Directive (EU) 2018/851, and more ambitious recycling 
targets were introduced for the period up to 2035. 
23 Eurostat, Municipal waste by waste operations. 
24 The Czech Ministry of Environment uses data collected by CENIA, 
Czech Environment Agency, which diverge significantly from the data 
reported to ESTAT by the Czech Statistical (i.e. the waste generation is 
around 40 % higher, recycling rates are 10 % higher and incineration 
rates lower). This data is used in the national and regional Waste 
Management Plans as well as ESIF Operational programmes. 

Currently, the Czech Republic is struggling to comply with 
EU  targets  on  diversion  of  biodegradable  waste  from 
landfills. However, a set of policy measures introduced in 
the  past  few  years  is  expected  to  contribute  to  bridging 
this  implementation  gap.  This  includes  a  revision  of  the 
of 
Waste  Act  mandating 

collection 

separate 

25 The data from Waste Management Information System administered 
by the Ministry of the Environment shows more positive trends. 
26 Member States may choose a different method than the one used by 
ESTAT (and referred to in this report) to calculate their recycling rates 
and track compliance with the 2020 target of 50 % recycling of 
municipal waste. 
27 Directive (EU) 2018/851, Directive (EU) 2018/852, Directive (EU) 
2018/850 and Directive (EU) 2018/849 amend the previous waste 
legislation and set more ambitious recycling targets for the period up to 
2035. These targets will be taken into consideration to assess progress 
in future Environmental Implementation Reports. 
28 Eurostat, Recycling rate of municipal waste. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

biodegradable waste in all municipalities adopted in 2015 
and  a  ban  announced  on  the  landfilling  of  recyclable, 
recoverable  and  mixed  municipal  waste  from  2024 
onwards29.In  addition,  an  obligatory  separate  collection 
of waste vegetable oils and fat will be introduced across 
the country. 

However, there are still large discrepancies between the 
data  from  Ministry  of  Environment  e.g.  in  the  national 
waste  management  plan  and  for  reporting  pursuant  to 
EU  waste  directives  and  the  waste  statistics  from  the 
Czech Statistical Office (validated by Eurostat). These two 
information systems are based on different EU legal acts 
but there is scope for reconciliation as formally agreed by 
the  Ministry  of  Environment  and  the  Czech  Statistical 
Office  in  August  2016.  Some  progress  has  been  made 
following  the  ongoing  work  on  aligning  waste  statistics 
resulting from this agreement. Nevertheless, the pace of 
reform  is  very  slow  and  raises  concerns  in  view  of  the 
need  to  step  up  implementation  efforts  and  plan  for 
compliance  with  more  ambitious  post-2020  targets  on 
municipal waste recycling and diversion of landfilling. 
The  national  waste  management  plan  2015-202430  And 
the regional waste management plans sets out measures 
aiming  at  an  increase  of  recycling  rates.  However,  there 
are  concerns  over  planned  capacity  for  residual  waste 
treatment, namely waste to energy. The issue is directly 
linked with the problem of data described above. 

The  Czech  Republic  has  a  well-functioning  extended 
producer  responsibility  (EPR)  scheme  for  packaging  and 
the  country  is  exceeding  the  relevant  packaging  targets 
(75 % packaging recycling in 2016, third place in EU).  

2019 priority actions 

 

Increase  the  existing  landfill  tax31  to  divert  waste 
from 
landfill.  Channel  those  revenues  towards 
measures to improve waste management in line with 
the waste hierarchy.  
  Avoid  building  excessive 

infrastructure  for  the 
treatment  of  residual  waste,  e.g.  mechanical-
biological treatment (MBT) facilities or incinerators. 
Shift  reusable  and  recyclable  waste  away  from 
incineration by introducing incineration taxes.  
Improve  and  extend  the  separate  collection  of 
for  bio-waste.  Establish 
waste, 
minimum  service  standards  for  separate  collection 

including 

 

 

that 

29 Act No 229/2014 Coll., in force as of 01/01/2015 as amending the 
Waste Act No 185/2001 Coll. 
30 WMP was adopted in December 2014 by the Czech Government 
(together with the national Waste Prevention programme), regional 
plans were adopted in June 2016.  
31 In the proposal for new Waste Act from 2015 it is suggested that 
landfill tax to be gradually increased as of 2018. It also contains explicit 
possibility for municipalities to implement PAYT system. The adoption 
process of this proposal has been stalled. 

8 

(e.g.  frequency  of  collections,  types  of  containers 
etc.) in municipalities to ensure high collection rates 
of  recyclable  waste.  Use  the  economic  instruments 
provided, such as pay-as-you-throw. 
Finish  the  alignment  the  two  official  waste  datasets 
to  ensure  consistency  of  the  data  reported  to  the 
European Commission 
Improve  the  functioning  of  Extended  Producer 
Responsibility  Systems,  in  line  with  the  general 
minimum  requirements  on  EPR  set  out  in  Article  8a 
of Directive 2018/851/EU. 

 

 

Climate change 

The EU has committed to undertaking ambitious climate 
action internationally as well as in the EU, having ratified 
the Paris Climate Agreement on 5 October 2016. The EU 
targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 
20 % by 2020 and by at least 40 % by 2030, compared to 
1990.  As  a  long-term  target,  the  EU  aims  to  reduce  its 
emissions  by  80-95 %  by  2050,  as  part  of  the  efforts 
required by developed countries as a group. Adapting to 
the adverse effects of climate change is vital to alleviate 
its  already  visible  effects  and  improve  preparedness  for 
and resilience to future impacts. 

The EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) covers all large 
greenhouse  gas  emitters  in  the  industry,  power  and 
aviation  sectors  in  the  EU.  The  EU  ETS  applies  in  all 
Member States and has a very high compliance rate. Each 
year,  installations  cover  around  99 %  of  their  emissions 
with the required number of allowances.  

its  annual 
Czech  Republic’s  emissions  were  below 
emission  allocations  in  each  of  the  years  between  2013 
and  2017.  For  2020,  Czech  Republic's  national  target 
under  the  EU  Effort  Sharing  Decision 
is  to  avoid 
increasing  emissions  by  more  than  9  %  compared  to 
2005.  For  2030,  Czech  Republic's  national  target  under 
the Effort Sharing Regulation will be to reduce emissions 
by  14  %  compared  to  2005.    The  Czech  Republic  is 
expected  to  over-achieve  its  2020  Effort  sharing  target 
for GHG emissions with a reduction of 9%. Its own 2017 
projections  show  a  small  gap  to  reach  its  2030  target. 
Further efforts are therefore encouraged. 

Existing  documents  that  form  the  basis  for  the  draft 
national  energy  and  climate  plan  in  Czech  Republic 
include  the  State  Energy  Policy  of  2015,  the  Climate 
Protection Policy of 2017, and the Strategy on Adaptation 
to Climate Change. Other relevant documents include the 
Development Plan for the Transmission System of Czech 
Republic  2017-2026,  the  National  Energy  Efficiency  and 
the Renewable Energy Action Plan.  

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Figure  7:  Change  in  total  greenhouse  gas  emissions 
1990-2017 (1990=100%)32. 

enhance the preparedness and capacity of all governance 
levels to respond to the impacts of climate change.  

Figure  8:  Targets  and  emissions  for  Czech  Republic 
under  the  Effort  Sharing  Decision  and  Effort  Sharing 
Regulation33. 

The  Czech  Climate  Protection  Policy  can  be  regarded  as 
Low  Emission  development  strategy  as  it  lays  down  the 
targets and also provides information how these targets 
will be achieved. Several national sectoral strategies have 
been  elaborated  to  ensure  the  continuous  reduction  of 
greenhouse gas emissions.  

Transport  represents  almost  a  quarter  of  Europe's 
greenhouse  gas  emissions  and  is  the  main  cause  of  air 
pollution in cities. Transport emissions in Czech Republic 
increased by 12 % from 2013 to 2016. 

Under  the  F-gas  Regulation  Member  States  must 
implement  training  and  certification  programmes  and 
rules  for  penalties  and  notify  these  measures  to  the 
Commission  by  2017.  Czech  Republic  has  notified  both 
measures.  

The  accounting  of  GHG  emissions  and  removals  from 
forests and agriculture is governed by the Kyoto Protocol. 
A  preliminary  accounting  exercise  for  the  period  2013-
2016  depicts net  credits of,  on average,  -1.2 Mt  CO2-eq, 
which  corresponds  to  1.0%  of  the  EU-28  accounted  sink 
of -115.7 Mt CO2-eq.  

The  EU  Strategy  on  adaptation  to  climate  change, 
adopted  in  2013,  aims  to  make  Europe  more  climate-
resilient, by promoting action by Member States, better-
informed  decision  making,  and  promoting  adaptation  in 
key vulnerable sectors. By adopting a coherent approach 
and  providing  for  improved  coordination,  it  seeks  to 

32 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer ). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 
2017Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

Figure 9: Greenhouse gas emissions by sector (Mt. CO2-
eq.). Historical data 1990-2016. Projections 2017-203034.  

Czech  Republic  adopted  its  Strategy  on  Adaptation  to 
Climate  Change  (NAS)  in  2015.  The  National  Action  Plan 
on Adaptation to Climate Change was developed on the 
basis of this Strategy and adopted in 2017. The following 
priority  sectors  were  included  in  the  strategy:  forest 

33 Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017 Approximated EU greenhouse 
gas inventory 2017 (European Environment Agency). Member States 
national projections, reviewed by the European Environment Agency. 
34 Annual European Union greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2016 (EEA 
greenhouse gas data viewer). Proxy GHG emission estimates for 2017 
Approximated EU greenhouse gas inventory 2017 (European 
Environment Agency). Member States national projections, reviewed by 
the European Environment Agency. 

9 

 
                                                                 
 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

management, agriculture, water regime in the landscape 
and  water  management,  urban  landscape,  biodiversity 
and ecosystem services, health and hygiene, tourism and 
recreation,  transportation,  industry  and  energy  sector, 
emergency  events and protection of the population and 
the  environment.  The  monitoring  system  has  been 
developed  in  2017  and  the  reporting  system  is  being 
developed.  The  default  status  of 
for 
monitoring the NAS, is defined and the whole monitoring 
system is operational. 

indicators, 

The  total  revenues  from  the  auctioning  of  emission 
allowances  under  the  EU  ETS  over  the  years  2013-2017 
were  EUR  566  million.  88%  of  the  auctioning  revenues 
has been spent on climate and energy purposes. 

2019 priority action 

In this report, no priority actions have been included on 
climate action, as the Commission will first need to assess 
the  draft  national  energy  and  climate  plans  which  the 
Member  States  needed  to  send  by  end  of  2018.  These 
plans  should  increase  the  consistency  between  energy 
and climate policies and could therefore become a good 
example  of  how  to  link  sector-specific  policies  on  other 
interlinked themes  such as agriculture-nature-water and 
transport-air-health.  

10 

 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

2. Protecting, conserving and enhancing natural capital 

Nature and biodiversity 

in  the  EU  by  2020. 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  aims  to  halt  the  loss  of 
biodiversity 
full 
implementation  of  the  Birds  and  Habitats  Directives  to 
achieve  favourable  conservation  status  of  protected 
species and habitats. It also requires that the agricultural 
improve 
and  forest  sectors  help  to  maintain  and 
biodiversity. 

It  requires 

Biodiversity strategy 

Czech  Republic’s  new  Biodiversity  strategy  adopted  in 
2016 
is  a  concept  document  defining  biodiversity 
priorities for the 2016-2025 period. 

Setting up a coherent network of Natura 2000 sites 

On  the  basis  of  the  latest  update,  the  EU’s  terrestrial 
Natura  2000  network  under  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives is now considered to be virtually complete. 

In 2018, 14.1 % of Czech Republic’s territory is covered by 
Natura  2000  (EU  average  18.2 %).  There  are  1 153  sites, 
including  1 112  Sites  of  Community  importance  (SCIs) 
under  the  Habitats  Directive  and  41  Special  protection 
areas  (SPAs)  under  the  Birds  Directive.  The  SCIs  cover 
10.1 % (EU average 13.9 %) of the country’s territory and 
the SPAs 8.9 % (EU average 12.4 %). 

Designating Natura 2000 sites and setting conservation 
objectives and measures 

The designation of the SPAs is considered sufficient for all 
identified  bird  species.  However,  the  assessment  of  the 
SCIs  conducted 
insufficiencies  for  a 
in  2016  shows 
number of habitats and species35. 
New sites were officially proposed36 by Czech Republic in 
February  and  June  2016,  with  spatial  data  submitted  in 
September  2016.  The  European  Commission 
is 
addressing  the  issue  of  sufficiency  of  the  SCIs  in  Czech 
Republic  in  an  ongoing  infringement  procedure.  The 
legislative  process  to  designate  the  remaining  SCIs  is 
currently ongoing. 

35 For each Member State, the Commission assesses whether the 
species and habitat types on Annexes I and II of the Habitats Directive, 
are sufficiently represented by the sites designated to date. This is 
expressed as a percentage of species and habitats for which further 
areas need to be designated in order to complete the network in that 
country. The current data, which were assessed in 2014-2015, reflect 
the situation up until December 2013. 
36 (51 sites) and the target feature added into existing sites (70 sites). 

The main threat to habitat types of Community interest is 
the  abandonment  of  their  traditional  use.  Nature  has 
reverted  abandoned  pastures  and  meadows  back  into 
forests with a different species composition. 

In parallel, productive agricultural land  and a substantial 
percentage of forests are managed in an intensive, profit-
oriented  manner.  The  average  size  of  Czech  agricultural 
holdings  is  the  highest  in  the  EU  and  practising  large-
scale  agriculture  is  another  major  cause  of  natural 
habitat decline. 

The country has about 20 000 fishponds, some of them in 
Natura  2000  sites,  which  may  provide  a  substitute  for 
wetlands  drained  in  the  past.  Most  of  these  ponds  are 
intensively  managed  by  large-scale  companies  to  raise 
carp at extremely high densities. The impact of intensive 
aquaculture  on  aquatic  ecosystems  is  hard  to  quantify 
due to lack of studies. 

With  a  long  history  of  industrialisation,  the    Czech 
Republic  already  has  one  of  the  most  fragmented 
the  EU  countries37.  Continuing 
landscapes  among 
development such as urban sprawl or the construction of 
roads and small hydro-electric power plants is leading to 
the  further  fragmentation  of  natural  areas.  This  reduces 
the  area  and  quality  of  habitats  and  divides  species 
populations into smaller and more vulnerable fragments. 
Infrastructure  development,  such  as 
the  planned 
construction  of  a  dam  on  the  Elbe  river  at  Děčín,  could 
lead to the destruction of a habitat type protected by the 
Habitats  Directive  that  only  occurs  there  in  the  Czech 
Republic.38 

Forest areas account for around 34 % of Czech Republic’s 
is  below  the  EU  average  (42 %). 
total  area,  which 
Forested  areas  are  steadily  growing,  15 %  of  Czech 
forests  are  in  protected  areas  and  almost  60 %  of  the 
forested  areas  belong  to  the  State.  In  general,  the 

37 EEA, Landscape fragmentation in Europe, 2011. 
38 DĚČÍN website. 

11 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

management  of  the  forest  is  done  by  owner/forest 
manager, under the Forest management plans approved 
by  the  forest  authority.  The  approval  of  these  plans 
requires  the  opinion  of  nature  conservation  authorities. 
However,  the  focus  of  these  plans  is  forest  production. 
Therefore,  plans  should  be  a  subject  to  appropriate 
assessments in case they also cover Natura 2000 (forest) 
sites. 

The Natura 2000 network provides extra layer in addition 
to  the  national  system  for  protecting  nature.  It  has  a 
rather complex governance structure with three levels of 
competent  authorities,  with  Natura  2000  sites  being 
managed  according  to  the  categories  of  nationally 
protected  areas.  Endless  discussion  is  the  norm  on 
general nature protection issues, such as river navigation 
or  forest  management  in  the  national  parks  and  Natura 
2000. One example is the Sumava National Park, where a 
non-intervention approach is being tested to see if this is 
an appropriate response to the bark beetle outbreaks. 

restoring 
in  maintaining  or 
Progress 
conservation status of species and habitats 

favourable 

Considering that Member States report every 6 years on 
the  progress  made  under  the  Birds  and  Habitats 
Directives39,40,  no  new  information  is  available  on  the 
state  of  natural  habitats  and  species.  Nor  is  there 
information on progress made in terms of improving the 
conservation  status  of  species  and  habitats  in  Czech 
Republic, as compared to the 2017 EIR Report. 

2019 priority actions 

 

  Complete  the  Natura  2000  designation  process  and 
establish  binding  conservation  objectives  and 
measures  for  all  sites.  Provide  adequate  resources 
for their implementation. 
Strengthen the integration of biodiversity issues into 
other policies (in particular agriculture, forestry, fish 
farming, and infrastructure and urban development). 
  Consider  streamlining  all  relevant  nature  related 
improve  the  stakeholder’s 
assessments  and  to 
position  in  the  administrative  processes  as  regards 
site and species 

39 The core of the ‘Article 17’ report is the assessment of conservation 
status of the habitats and species targeted by the Habitats Directive. 
According to the latest report, 83 % of habitats and 69 % of species 
were in unfavourable status. 
40 Article 12 of the Birds Directive requires Member States to report 
about the progress made with the implementation of the Birds 
Directive. According to the last report, 82 % of the breeding species 
showed short-term increasing or stable population trends (for wintering 
species this figure was 20 %). 

12 

Maintaining  and  restoring  ecosystems  and 
their services 

The EU biodiversity strategy aims to maintain and restore 
ecosystems  and  their  services  by 
including  green 
infrastructure  in  spatial  planning  and  restoring  at  least 
15 %  of  degraded  ecosystems  by  2020.  The  EU  green 
infrastructure  strategy  promotes  the  incorporation  of 
green infrastructure into related plans and programmes. 

The EU has provided guidance on the further deployment 
of green and blue infrastructure in Czech Republic41 and a 
country page on the Biodiversity Information System for 
Europe  (BISE)42.  This  information  will  also  contribute  to 
the  final  evaluation  of  the  EU  Biodiversity  Strategy  to 
2020. 

In  Czech  Republic,  there  is  no  specific  legislation  on 
Green Infrastructure. However, several policies and laws 
mention  landscape  protection  and  the  restoration  of 
ecosystems43.  The  Territorial  System  of  Ecological 
Stability  of  the  Landscape  (TSES)  addresses  the  issue  of 
ecosystem  connectivity44.  By  setting  up  the  TSES,  Czech 
Republic  (and  Slovakia  when  the  former  Czechoslovakia 
existed) was a  pioneer as regards having a  legal tool for 
building  an  ecological  network/GI  in  Europe  as  well  as 
globally. The TSES is seen as a tool to mainstream GI into 
spatial  planning  from  which  the  binding  nature  of  TSES 
only arises. Existing linear structures in the landscape like 
river  and  brook  valleys,  alleys,  wetlands  and  existing 
protected  areas  have  been 
into  the  TSES 
network,  which  has  played  positive  role  in  maintenance 
of  these  elements 
landscape.  Unfortunately, 
insufficient  control,  supervision  and  coordination  of  the 
system  as  a  whole  have  resulted  in  its  low  level  of 
enforcement. 

included 

in  the 

Czech  Republic’s  national  biodiversity  strategy  sets  out 
priorities and national measures that span across sectors. 
However, in practice it is not always used at policy level 
or in implementing measures across sectors. 

The mainstreaming of GI  varies highly depending on the 
policy  area.  In  the  agricultural  sector,  the  uptake  of 

41 The recommendations of the green infrastructure strategy review 
report and the EU Guidance on a strategic framework for further 
supporting the deployment of EU-level green and blue infrastructure. 
42 Biodiversity Information System for Europe. 
43 The Natural Protection Act (NPA) introduced obligation to protect 
“significant landscape elements” which are, by definition, all forests, 
mires, watercourses, fishponds, lakes and river floodplains. The 
definition of significant landscape elements is however problematic due 
to the linkage to other legislation (eg Water Act, Forest Act), and the 
use of the tool requires expertise especially in relation to the 
assessment of significant landscape element status and the impact of 
intentions on its functions. 
44 Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

ecological  measures  depends  on  the  willingness  of 
farmers  Up  to  80  %  of  agricultural  land  is  leased,  which 
means  it  is  usually  managed  by  farmers  not  related  to 
land  with  short-term  contracts,  who  are  predominantly 
not  interested  in  sustainability  and  are  profit-oriented. 
However,  various  subsidies  suitable  for  the  landscape 
and  the  environment  are  provided.  Part  of  the 
agricultural 
land,  whether  arable  or  permanent 
special  environmental 
grassland, 
management.  Intensive  method  of  certain  sectors  of 
agricultural and in some cases of forest management are 
the  other  major  reasons  of  decrease 
in  quality  of 
ecosystems,  which  also  exacerbates  and  deepens  the 
negative impacts of climate change. 

treated  with 

is 

assessment  of  ecosystems’)  webpage  on  the  BISE 
platform47 since 2015. 

It has developed habitat  mapping for each biotope on a 
scale  of  1:10.000,  which  is  a  good  basis  for  mapping 
ecosystems  and  it  aims  to  monitor  conservation  status. 
Whereas  data  on  biodiversity  are  available,  good 
understanding  and  a  strategic  review  of  the  data  is 
required48. 

Figure 10: Implementation of MAES (September 2018) 

the 

Czech  Republic  has  also  conducted  a  lot  of  work  to 
identify  migration  areas  and  corridors  connecting  these 
areas  and  they  have  linked  this  to  spatial  planning 
processes.  There  are  a  number  of  programmes  that 
support 
revitalisation  of  watercourses,  water 
retention in the landscape and the recovery of landscape 
structures that strengthen the water regime. A document 
of  revitalisation  and  re-naturalisation  of  waterways  is 
expected  for  202045.  However,  the  development  of 
navigation  policy  puts  pressure  on  water  bodies  (e.g. 
Prelouc and Decin). The expected progress resulting from 
planed  measures  related  to  the  objectives  of  the  Water 
Framework  Directive  is  low  and  even  though  there  has 
ben  some  progress,  not  all  significant  pressures  are 
addressed,  most  notably  not  hydromorphological 
pressures.  Furthermore,  GI  is  being  considered  in  the 
transport  sector  as  the  Transgreen  project  (2017-2019) 
will provide guidelines for integrated transport measures 
and a complete inventory of underpasses and overpasses 
for  highways,  main  roads  and  railways  in  selected  pilot 
areas. 

Estimating natural capital 

The  EU  biodiversity  strategy  calls  on  Member  States  to 
map  and  assess  the  state  of  ecosystems  and  their 
services46 in their national territories by 2014, assess the 
economic  value  of  such  services  and  integrate  these 
values  into  accounting  and  reporting  systems  at  EU  and 
national level by 2020. 

Czech Republic has not provided any new information on 
its  work  regarding  the  mapping  and  assessment  of 
ecosystems and their services on its MAES (mapping and 

45 Water management is projected to be the most vulnerable sector in 
relation to climate change and is a key adaptation element in response 
to extreme meteorological and hydrological situations causing draughts 
or floods. 
46 Ecosystem services are benefits provided by nature such as food, 
clean water and pollination on which human society depends. 

Business  and  biodiversity  platforms,  networks  and 
communities of practice are key tools for promoting and 
facilitating  natural  capital  assessments  among  business 
and  financial  service  providers,  for  instance  via  the 
Natural  Capital  Coalition’s  protocol49.  The  assessments 
contribute  to  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy  by  helping 
private  businesses  better  understand  and  value  both 
their  impact  and  dependence  on  nature.  Biodiversity 
platforms  have  been  established  at  EU  level50  and  in  a 
number of the Member States. 

Czech  Republic  is  involved  in  the  ‘Central  and  Eastern 
Europe,  CEEWeb  Cooperation  with  Business’51,  which 
aims  to  strengthen  business  and  NGO  partnerships  by 
analysing their complexity, spreading good practice case 
studies  and  providing  practical  tips  for  implementation. 
The  initiative  also  serves  as  a  match-making  platform 
between  companies  and  NGOs  willing  to  take  action  to 
protect biodiversity. 

2019 priority action 

  Czech Republic is encouraged to provide information 

about its progress on MAES.  

47 Biodiversity Information System for Europe, MAES-related 
developments in the Czech Republic. 
48 Biodiversity Information System for Europe, Green Infrastructure in 
the Czech Republic. 
49 Natural Capital Coalition, Natural Capital Protocol. 
50 Business and Biodiversity, The European Business and Biodiversity 
Campaign aims to promote the business case for biodiversity in the EU 
Member States through workshops, seminars and a cross media 
communication strategy. 
51 Central and Eastern Europe, CEEWeb Cooperation with Business. 

13 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Invasive alien species 

Under  the  EU  biodiversity  strategy,  the  following  are  to 
be achieved by 2020:  
(i) invasive alien species identified;  
(ii) priority species controlled or eradicated; and  
(iii)  pathways  managed  to  prevent  new  invasive  species 
from disrupting European biodiversity.  
This  is  supported  by  the  Invasive  Alien  Species  (IAS) 
Regulation, which entered into force on 1 January 2015. 

Czech  Republic  actively  contributed  to  the  development 
of  the  EU  list  by  proposing  4  plant  species  for  the  first 
and the second update of the this list. 

The  report  on  the  baseline  distribution  (Figure  12),  for 
which Czech Republic reviewed its country and grid-level 
data, shows that from the 37 species on the first EU list, 
12 have already been observed in Czech Republic.  

The  invasive  alien  species  that  have  been  currently 
causing  the  most  significant  environmental  damage  in 
Czech  Republic  are,  eg.  crayfish  species  Pacifastacus 
leniusculus  and  Orconectes 
limosus,  or  Heracleum 
mantegazzianum. 

Figure  11:  Number  of  IAS  of  EU  concern,  based  on 
available 
Czech 
Republic52 

georeferenced 

information 

for 

Between the entry into force of the EU list and May 2018, 
Czech  Republic  has  submitted  one  early  detection 
notification  for  marbled  crayfish  (Procambarus  fallax  f. 
virginalis),  as  required  under  Article 16(2)  of  the  IAS 
Regulation. 

52 Tsiamis K; Gervasini E; Deriu I; D`amico F; Nunes A; Addamo A; De 
Jesus Cardoso A. Baseline Distribution of Invasive Alien Species of Union 
concern. Ispra (Italy): Publications Office of the European Union; 2017. 

14 

The adoption of the national act containing the relevant 
national  provisions  on  processes,  system  of  permits, 
penalties etc. of the IAS Regulation is pending. 

2019 priority actions 

  Czech  Republic  is  urged  to  swiftly  adopt  national 
legislation  to  comply  with  obligations  of  the  IAS 
Regulation and notify the Commission in this regard. 
  Czech  Republic  is  urged  to  notify  the  measures  it  is 

taking against marbled crayfish. 

Soil protection 

The  EU  soil  thematic  strategy  underlines  the  need  to 
ensure a  sustainable use of soils.  This  entails preventing 
further  soil  degradation  and  preserving  its  functions,  as 
well as restoring degraded soils. The 2011 Roadmap to a 
Resource Efficient Europe states that by 2020, EU policies 
must  take  into  account  their  direct  and  indirect  impact 
on land use. 

Soil  is  a  finite  and  extremely  fragile  resource  and  it  is 
increasingly degrading in the EU. 

The  annual  land  take  rate  (growth  of  artificial  areas)  as 
provided  by  CORINE  Land  Cover  was  0.43 %  in  Czech 
Republic  over  the  2006-2012  period,  close  to  the  EU 
average  (0.41 %).  It  represented  2 159  hectares  per 
year53  (in  the  previous  period,  2000-2006,  it  was  1944 
hectares  per  year)  and  was  mainly  driven  by  housing, 
services  and  recreation  as  well  as 
industrial  and 
commercial sites. 
The  percentage  of  artificial  land54  in  Czech  Republic 
(Figure 13) can show the relative pressure on nature and 
biodiversity,  as  well  as  the  environmental  pressure  on 
people  living  in  urbanised  areas.  A  similar  measure  is 
population density. 

The  Czech  Republic  is  slightly  above  the  EU  average  for 
artificial  land  coverage  (4.6 %  vs  4.1 %).  The  population 
density  is  136.8/km2,  which  is  above  the  EU  average  of 
118/km2 55. 

In  2015  Czech  Republic  adopted  an  amendment  to  the 
the 
Soil  Conservation  Act  which  can  strengthen 

53 EEA, Draft results of CORINE Land Cover (CLC) inventory 2012; mean 
annual land take 2006-12 as a % of 2006 artificial land. In the period 
2000-2006. 
54 Artifical land cover is defined as the total of roofed built-up areas 
(including buildings and greenhouses), artificial non built-up areas 
(including sealed area features, such as yards, farmyards, cemeteries, 
car parking areas etc. and linear features, such as streets, roads, 
railways, runways, bridges) and other artificial areas (including bridges 
and viaducts, mobile homes, solar panels, power plants, electrical 
substations, pipelines, water sewage plants, and open dump sites). 
55 European Commission, Eurostat, Population density by NUTS 3 
region. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

protection of agricultural soil. 56 
Figure 12: Proportion of artificial land cover, 2015 57 

model59, Czech Republic has an average soil loss rate by 
water  of  1.65  tonnes  per  hectare  per  year  (t ha−a yr−y), 
compared  to  the  EU  mean  of  2.46 t ha−a yr−y.  These 
figures  are  the  output  of  an  EU  level  model  based  on 
rainfall,  support  practices,  land  cover,  soil  and  slope 
characteristics,  and  therefore  cannot  be  considered  as 
locally  measured  values.  The  actual  rate  of  soil  loss  can 
vary strongly  within a Member State depending on local 
conditions.60 

Soil organic matter plays an important role in the carbon 
cycle and in climate change. Soils are the second largest 
carbon sink in the world after oceans. 

Contamination  can  severely  reduce  soil  quality  and 
threaten  human  health  or  the  environment.  A  recent 
report  of  the  European  Commission58  estimated  that 
potentially  polluting  activities  have  taken  or  are  still 
taking place on approximately 2.8 million sites in the EU. 
At EU level,  650 000 of these sites have been registered 
in national or regional inventories. 65 500  contaminated 
sites already have been remediated.  Czech Republic has 
registered  9 300  sites  where  potentially  polluting 
activities have taken or are taking place, and already has 
remediated  or  applied  aftercare  measures  on  257  sites. 
Some of the remediation projects were supported by EU 
funds. 

Soil erosion by water is a natural process, but this can be 
aggravated  by  human  activities  such  as  inappropriate 
agricultural  practices,  deforestation,  forest  fires  or 
the  RUSLE2015 
construction  works.  According 

to 

56 It makes the protection of best quality soil from sealing considerably 
stricter; it focuses on reclamation of agricultural land after temporary 
land claims, and regulates soil protection from erosion. 
57 European Commission, Eurostat, Land covered by artificial surfaces by 
NUTS 2 regions. 
58 Ana Paya Perez, Natalia Rodriguez Eugenio, Status of local soil 
contamination in Europe: Revision of the indicator “Progress in the 
management Contaminated Sites in Europe”, 2018. 

59 Panagos, P., Borrelli, P., Poesen, J., Ballabio, C., Lugato, 
E., Meusburger, K., Montanarella, L., Alewell, C., The new assessment of 
soil loss by water erosion in Europe, Environmental Science and 
Policy, 54, 2015, pp. 438-447. 
60 In The Czech Republic, higher explanatory power is given by the USLE 
model60, which provides the maximum average soil loss rate by water 
erosion around 21 mil tonnes of topsoil per year. 

15 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

3. Ensuring citizens' health and quality of life 

Air quality 

Emissions  Ceilings  Directive63  for  the  2020-2029  period 
and for each year beyond 2030. 

EU clean air  policy and legislation require the significant 
improvement  of  air  quality  in  the  EU,  moving  the  EU 
closer to the quality  recommended by the World Health 
Organisation.  Air  pollution  and  its  impacts  on  human 
health,  ecosystems  and  biodiversity  should  be  further 
reduced with the long-term aim of not exceeding critical 
loads  and  levels.  This  requires  strengthening  efforts  to 
reach  full  compliance  with  EU  air  quality  legislation  and 
defining strategic targets and actions beyond 2020. 

The  EU  has  developed  a  comprehensive  body  of  air 
legislation61,  which  establishes  health-based 
quality 
standards and objectives for a number of air pollutants. 

The  emission  reductions  between  1990  and  2014 
mentioned  in  the  previous  2017  EIR  continued  between 
2014 and 2016. Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) fell by 
8.01 %,  emissions  of  volatile  organic  compounds 
(NMVOCs)  fell  by  1.77 %,  emissions  of  fine  particulate 
matter  PM2.5  fell  by  3.58 %  and  emissions  of  sulphur 
oxides  (SOx)  fell  by  16.34 %.  Meanwhile  emissions  of 
ammonia (NH3) have increased by 0.73 % (see also Figure 
13 on the total PM2.5 and NOx emissions per sector). 

Figure 13: PM2.5 and NOx emissions by sector in Czech 
Republic62 

At the  same time, air quality in  Czech  Republic is  still a 
cause  for  concern.  For  2015,  the European Environment 
Agency  estimated  that  about  10 100  premature  deaths 
fine  particulate  matter64 
were 
concentrations, 460 to ozone65 concentrations and 490 to 
nitrogen dioxide66 concentrations67. 

attributable 

to 

For  2017,  exceedances  related  to  the  annual  limit  value 
for  nitrogen  dioxide  (NO2)  in  2  (out  of  10)  air  quality 
zones  (Prague,  Brno).  Exceedances  have  also  been 
registered  related  to  particulate  matter  (PM10)  in  9  (out 
of  10)  air  quality  zones  (including  Ostrava  and  several 
locations 
in  Moravia  region),  and  related  to  fine 
particulate  matter  (PM2.5)  in  1  (out  of  10)  air  quality 
zones  (Ostrava).  Furthermore,  target  values  for  annual 
mean  concentrations  of  ozone  have  been  also 
exceeded68. 

See  also  Figure  14  on  the  number  of  air  quality  zones 
where  NO2,  PM2.5,  and  PM10  were  reported  as  having 
been exceeded. 

Figure  14:  Air  quality  zones  exceeding  EU  air  quality 
standards in 201769  

63 Directive 2016/2284/EU. 
64 Particulate matter (PM) is a mixture of aerosol particles (solid and 
liquid) covering a wide range of sizes and chemical compositions. PM10 
(PM2.5) refers to particles with a diameter of 10 (2.5) micrometres or 
less. PM is emitted from many human sources, including combustion. 
65 Low level ozone is produced by photochemical action on pollution. 
66 NOx is emitted during fuel combustion e.g. from industrial facilities 
and the road transport sector. NOx is a group of gases comprising 
nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). 
67 European Environment Agency. Air Quality in Europe — 2017 Report. 
Please see details in this report as regards the underpinning 
methodology. 
68 EEA, Eionet Air Quality Portal and the related Central Data 
Repository. 
69 EEA, EIONET Central Data Repository. Data reflects the reporting 
situation as of 26 November 2018. 

Despite  the  reduction  in  emissions  since  1990  (see  the 
2017  EIR  report),  the  country  needs  to  make  additional 
efforts  to  meet  its  emission  reduction  commitments 
(compared 2005 emission levels) set by the new National 

61 European Commission, Air Quality Standards, 2016. 
62 2016 NECD data submitted by Member State to the EEA. 

16 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

According to the European Court of Auditors (ECA)70, EU 
action to protect human health from air pollution has not 
delivered its expected impact. 

  Build on the “Coal regions in transition” initiative to 
reduce the use of coal for domestic heating in order 
to limit air pollutants emissions.  

instances  because 

There is a risk that air pollution is being  underestimated 
in  some 
it  may  not  always  be 
monitored  in  the  right  places.  Member  States  are  now 
required  to  report  both  real-time  and  validated  air 
quality data to the Commission71. 

through 

The  persistent  breaches  of  air  quality  requirements  (for 
PM10  and  NO2),  which  have  severe  negative  effects  on 
health  and  the  environment,  are  being  followed  up  by 
infringement 
the  European  Commission 
procedures  covering  all  the  Member  States  concerned, 
including  Czech  Republic.  As  regards  the  EU  air  quality 
standards  being  exceeded  for  PM10,  the  measures  being 
put  in  place  or  planned  by  Czech  Republic  seem  to  be 
able  to  tackle  the 
if 
correctly  implemented.  For  this  reason,  the  Commission 
will  continue  to  closely  monitor  the  implementation  of 
in 
these  measures  as  well  as  their  effectiveness 
redressing  the  situation  as  soon  as  possible.  The  aim  is 
that  appropriate  measures  are  put  in  place  to  bring  all 
zones into compliance72. 

identified  gaps  appropriately, 

2019 priority actions 

 

Take,  in  the  context  of  the  National  Air  Pollution 
Control  Programme 
towards 
reducing the main emission sources - and meet all air 
quality standards. 

(NAPCP),  actions 

and 

  Accelerate  the  reduction  in  nitrogen  oxide  (NOx) 
emissions 
(NO2) 
nitrogen 
concentrations; this will require, for example, further 
reducing  transport  emissions,  particularly  in  urban 
areas  (and  may  require  proportionate  and  targeted 
urban  vehicle  access  restrictions)  and/or  fiscal 
incentives. 

dioxide 

Industrial emissions 

The  main objectives of EU policy on industrial emissions 
are to: 
(i) protect air, water and soil; 
(ii) prevent and manage waste; 
(iii) improve energy and resource efficiency; and  
(iv) clean up contaminated sites.  
To  achieve  this,  the  EU  takes  an  integrated  approach  to 
the  prevention  and  control  of  routine  and  accidental 
industrial emissions. The cornerstone of the policy is the 
Industrial Emissions Directive73 (IED). 

The  below  overview  of  industrial  activities  regulated  by 
the  IED  is  based  on  the  ‘industrial  emissions  policy 
country profiles’ project74. 

In  Czech  Republic  around  1 560  industrial  installations 
must have a permit according to the IED. 

In 2015 the industrial sectors in Czech Republic with the 
most  IED  installations  were  the  intensive  rearing  of 
poultry  or  pigs  (27 %),  waste  management  (19 %) 
chemicals  (15 %),  metal  production  (8 %)  and  energy 
(6 %). 

Figure  15:  Number  of  IED  industrial  installations  by 
sector,  Czech Republic (2015)75 

  Accelerate  the  reduction 

in  particulate  matter 
(PM2.5  and  PM10)  emissions  and  concentrations; 
this  will  require,  for  example,  further  reducing 
from  energy  production  and  heat 
emissions 
generation  that  uses  solid  fuels,  or  promoting 
efficient and clean district heating. 

70 European Court of Auditors, Special report no 23/2018, Air pollution: 
Our health still insufficiently protected, p.41. 
71 Article 5 of Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU of 
12 December 2011 laying down rules for Directives 2004/107/EC and 
2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards 
the reciprocal exchange of information and reporting on ambient air 
quality (OJ L 335, 17.12.2011, p. 86) requires Member States to provide 
Up-To-Date data. 
72 In The Czech Republic, on 1st October 2018 Decree No. 211/2018 
Coll. on Vehicle Inspection entered into force. If the measured opacity 
of the vehicle exceeds 0.25 m-1 then the DPF must be repaired. This is a 
new controlling step for technicians at the PTI (periodical technical 
inspection). This measure will help to meet the air quality requirements, 
mainly regarding the amount of PM10 and PM2,5. 

The sectors identified as contributing the most emissions 
to air in Czech Republic are: 

 

the  ‘energy-power’  sector  for  sulphur  oxides  (SOx), 
nitrogen  oxides  (NOx),  cadmium  (Cd),  arsenic  (As), 
chromium  (Cr),  lead  (Pb),  mercury  (Hg)  nickel  (Ni) 

73 Directive 2010/75/EU covers industrial activities carried out above 
certain thresholds. It covers energy industry, metal production, mineral 
and chemical industry and waste management, as well as a wide range 
of industrial and agricultural sectors (e.g. intensive rearing of pig and 
poultry, pulp and paper production, painting and cleaning). 
74 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
The Czech Republic. 
75 European Commission, Industrial emissions policy country profile – 
Czechia. 

17 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

 

 
 

lead 

(Pb)  zinc 

zinc  (Zn)  and  polychlorinated  dibenzodioxins  and 
polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/F); 
the  iron  and  steel  production  sector  for  cadmium 
(Cd), 
(Zn)  and  polychlorinated 
dibenzodioxins  and  polychlorinated  dibenzofurans 
(PCCD/F); 
non-ferrous metals production for arsenic (As); and  
‘other  activities’  (mostly  the  intensive  rearing  of 
poultry  or  pigs  and  surface  treatment)  for  non-
methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and 
ammonia (NH3).  

19 %  and  71 %  at  EU  level.  The  extent  of  the  reduction 
depends on the situation in individual plants. 

The issues resulting from the late implementation of the 
BAT conclusion that prohibits the use of the mercury cell 
technique  by  chlor  alkali  plants  by  11 December 2017 
were efficiently solved. 

The  challenges  identified  were  air  pollution  from  the 
Ostrava/Karviná/Frýdek-Místek  agglomeration  on  the 
borders  with  Slovakia and Poland and air  pollution from 
power generation plants. 

The breakdown is shown in the following graph. 

2019 priority actions 

Figure 16: Emissions to air from IED sectors and all other 
national total air emissions, Czech Republic (2015) 

  Review permits to ensure that they comply with the 

 

newly adopted BAT conclusions. 
Strengthen  control  and  enforcement  to  ensure 
compliance with the BAT conclusions. 

  Address  air  pollution  from  power  plants  and  steel 

production plants where relevant. 

Noise 

The  Environmental  Noise  Directive76  provides  for  a 
common  approach  to  avoiding,  preventing  and  reducing 
the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. 

Regarding water emissions, energy-power, iron and steel 
production,  chemicals  and 
‘other  activities’  were 
identified as having significant environmental burdens for 
emissions  to  water.  For  hazardous  waste  generation, 
both  waste  management  and  metal  production  were 
identified  as  the  most  polluting  sectors,  while  for  non-
hazardous  waste  generation  the  most  polluting  sectors 
identified  were  waste  management,  energy-power  and 
metal production. 

Best  Available  Techniques  (BAT)  reference  documents 
the 
and  BAT  conclusions  are  developed 
exchange  of 
information  between  Member  States, 
industrial  associations,  NGOs  and  the  Commission.  This 
ensures  a  good  collaboration  with  stakeholders  and  a 
better implementation of IED. 

through 

Thanks  to  the  national  competent  authorities’  efforts  to 
apply the legally binding BAT conclusions and associated 
BAT  emission  levels  in  environmental  permits,  pollution 
has decreased considerably and continuously. 

For  example,  by  applying  the  recently  adopted  BAT 
emission levels for large combustion plants, emissions of 
sulphur dioxide will be  cut  on average by between 25 % 
and 81 %, nitrogen oxide by between 8 % and 56 %, dust 
by  between  31 %  and  78 %  and  mercury  by  between 

Excessive noise from aircraft, railways and roads is one of 
the  main  causes  of  environmental  health-related  issues 
in the EU77. 
Based  on  a  limited  set  of  data78,  environmental  noise 
causes  at  least  600  premature  deaths  per  year  in  Czech 
Republic  and  is  responsible  for  around  2 100  hospital 
admissions.  Noise  also  disturbs  the  sleep  of  roughly 
410 000  people  in  the  country.  There  are  significant 
delays 
the  Environmental  Noise 
Directive. Based on the latest full set of information that 
could be analysed, (i.e. 2012 for noise maps and 2013 for 
action  plans),  the  obligations  from  the  Directive  have 
only  been  met  for  noise  mapping.  The  action  plans  for 
the  agglomerations,  the  airport,  the  major  roads  and 
major railways are still lacking.79 

implementing 

in 

These  instruments,  adopted  after  a  public  consultation 
had  been  carried  out,  should  include  the  measures  to 
keep noise low or reduce it.  

2019 priority action 

  Complete  action  plans  for  noise  management  and 

use them in planning. 

76 Directive 2002/49/EC. 
77 Fritschi, L., Brown, A.L., Kim, R., Schwela, D., Kephalopoulos, S. (eds), 
Burden of disease from environmental noise, WHO/JRC, World Health 
Organization, Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2011. 
78 European Environment Agency, Noise Fact Sheets 2017. 
79 Updated national methodical guidance for elaboration of Action Plans 
was approved in August 2018. 

18 

 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

water (73% of groundwater bodies) followed by nutrient 
pollution  (41  %  of  surface  water  bodies  and  53%  of 
ground water bodies). 

Water quality and management 

EU  legislation  and  policy  requires  that  the  impact  of 
pressures  on  transitional,  coastal  and  fresh  waters 
(including  surface  and  ground  waters)  be  significantly 
reduced.  Achieving,  maintaining  or  enhancing  a  good 
status  of  water  bodies  as  defined  by  the  Water 
Framework Directive  will  ensure that EU citizens benefit 
from good quality and safe drinking and bathing water. It 
will  further  ensure  that  the  nutrient  cycle  (nitrogen  and 
phosphorus)  is  managed  in  a  more  sustainable  and 
resource-efficient way. 

The  existing  EU  water  legislation80  puts  in  place  a 
protective  framework  to  ensure  high  standards  for  all 
water  bodies  in  the  EU  and  addresses  specific  pollution 
sources  (for  example,  from  agriculture,  urban  areas  and 
industrial  activities).  It  also  requires  that  the  projected 
into  the 
impacts  of  climate  change  are 
corresponding  planning 
risk 
management  plans  and  river  basin  management  plans, 
including  programme  of  measures  which  include  the 
actions  that  Member  States  plan  to  take  in  order  to 
achieve the environmental objectives. 

instruments  e.g. flood 

integrated 

Water Framework Directive 

 The  Czech  Republic  has  adopted  and  reported  the 
second  generation  of  River  Basin  Management  Plans 
under the Water Framework Directive and the European 
Commission  has  assessed 
the 
development  since  the  adoption  of  the  first  River  Basin 
Management  Plans,  including  suggested  actions  in  the 
EIR report 2017. 

status  and 

the 

The  most  significant  pressures  on  rivers  in  terms  of 
proportion  of  affected  surface  of  water  bodies  is  from 
anthropogenic  pressure  (70%  of  surface  water  bodies), 
from 
Urban  waste  water 
agriculture  (22%)  and  diffuse  Atmospheric  deposition 
(22%). 

(38%),  diffuse  pollution 

For groundwater bodies the most significant pressure is 
diffuse  pollution  from  agriculture  (61%  of  groundwater 
bodies),  unknown  anthropogenic  pressure 
(49%), 
atmospheric  deposition,  including  diffuse  pollution  from 
transport  (30%),  contaminated  sites  or  abandoned 
industrial sites (24%) and abstraction/flow diversion from 
public water supply (9%). 

Chemical  pollution  was  the  most  significant  impacts  on 
surface water (48% of surface water bodies) and ground 

80 This includes the Bathing Waters Directive (2006/7/EC), the Urban 
Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) (on discharges of 
municipal and some industrial wastewaters), the Drinking Water 
Directive (98/83/EC) (on potable water quality), the Water Framework 
Directive (2000/60/EC) (on water resources management), the Nitrates 
Directive (91/676/EEC) and the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC). 

19 

The  water  framework  directive  requires  Member  States 
to establish monitoring programmes for the assessment 
of  the  status  of  surface  water  and  of  groundwater  in 
order to provide a coherent and comprehensive overview 
of  water  status  within  each  River  Basin  District.  Overall 
there  has  been  an  increase  of  monitoring  regarding  the 
ecological  status  in  surface  water  bodies  sites  in  rivers 
from  the  first  to  second  River  Basin  Management  Plans 
and  a  decrease  of  sites  in  lakes.  All  monitoring  sites  are 
used for the monitoring of ecological status of rivers and 
lakes but only 59% (rivers) and 56% (lakes), are used for 
the monitoring of chemical status. For most (~70%) rivers 
and 
lakes,  the  assessment  of  chemical  status  was 
undertaken between 2010 and 2012. The assessment  of 
the  chemical  status  is  to  a  significant  degree  based  on 
expert  judgment  where  non-monitored  water  bodies 
generally  were  considered  to  be  without  pressures  and 
were classified in good status (this was the case for 41% 
of  all  surface  water  bodies).  However,  it  is  not  clear 
whether all significant pressures have been identified for 
all water bodies, as a significant proportion of river water 
bodies  monitored  and  failing  to  achieve  good  chemical 
status are subject to unknown anthropogenic pressures. 

The  monitoring  situation  regarding  the  quantitative 
status of groundwater has improved, the monitoring sites 
increased significantly and there is a slight improvement 
of the status. 

The  ecological  status/potential  is  still  less  than  good  in 
the main part of the country and 19.2% of surface water 
bodies is in good or high status as illustrated in figure 17. 
This  shows  that  Czech  Republic  has  a  long  way  to  go  to 
achieve the good status/potential objectives set down in 
the Water Framework Directive. 

                                                                 
 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Figure 17: Ecological status or potential of surface water 
bodies in Czech Republic81 

remain an issue. More attention needs to be paid to the 
application  of  action  programmes  in  those  areas  where 
water  quality  in  the  context  of  the  Nitrates  Directive  is 
not improving sufficiently. 

Bathing Water Directive 

Figure  18  shows  that  in  2017,  out  of  the  154  Czech 
bathing waters, 81.8 % were of excellent quality, 9.7 % of 
good quality and 1.3 % of sufficient quality (compared to 
82.5 %,  8.4 %  and  1.3 %  respectively  in  2016).  Only  one 
bathing  water  site  was  of  poor  quality82.  Detailed 
information  on  Czech  bathing  waters  is  available  on  a 
national  portal83  and  on  an  interactive  map  viewer 
designed  and  hosted  by  the  European  Environment 
Agency84. 
Figure 18: Bathing water quality 2014–2017 85 

The  level  of  ambition  and  expected  progress  resulting 
from the Programme of Measures for the second cycle is 
low with  small reductions expected in many of the gaps 
to  achievement  of  objectives  at  the  end  of  the  second 
cycle.  There  has  been  some  progress  in  the  gaps  to  be 
filled for the achievement of objectives which have been 
quantified for some but not all significant pressures, most 
notably not for hydromorphological pressures. 

There has not been secured a clear financial commitment 
for the implementation of the Programme of Measures in 
any of the River Basin Districts. 

The Czech Republic did not  report  about  the application 
of  Art  4(7)  in  the  second  RBMP  as  the  impact  of  new 
modifications  on  water  status  is  according  to  the  Czech 
republic  being  assessed  and  deterioration  of  water 
bodies 
is  not  expected  for  any  of  them.  Detailed 
justifications  for  each  project  that  may  or  may  not  fall 
under Art 4(7) is not  provided in the RBMP, background 
documents 
indicate  that  no  project  requiring  the 
application  of  Art  4(7)  has  been  identified  so  far  by  the 
Czech  authorities.  However,  a  number  of  navigation 
projects  are  planned  (e.g.  Decin  and  Prelouc  locks, 
Danube-Odra-Elbe canal, etc) together with an extension 
of  the  nuclear  plant  at  Temelin,  and  exemptions  under 
Art  4(7)  will  thus  likely  need  to  be  applied  to  these 
developments.  

Nitrates Directive 

Levels in groundwater are slowly decreasing. In 11, 6 % of 
monitoring points, these levels, as well as eutrophication, 

81 EEA, WISE dashboard. 

Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive  

Overall,  in  Czech  Republic,  according  to  the  latest  data 
reported,  all  (100 %)  waste  water  is  collected,  but  only 
90.5 %  and  62.7 %  undergo  secondary  treatment  and 
more  stringent  treatment  respectively.  Therefore,  the 
Commission  is  following  up  on  these  areas  of  non-
compliance  by  way  of  infringement  proceedings.  The 
estimated  investment  needed  to  ensure  the  remaining 
agglomerations  are  treated  adequately  is  EUR 26 million 
in the last report on UWWTD86. According to this report, 
the  projects  listed  would  not  be  sufficient  to  ensure  full 
compliance  with  the  Directive  as  there  are  many  more 
agglomerations  in  breach  than  there  are  projects  listed. 
The  last  projects  should  be  completed  by  2018,  8  years 
after  the  final  deadline  in  the  Czech  Accession  Treaty. 
The  country  should  implement  the  necessary  measures 

82 EEA, 2017. European bathing water quality in 2016, p. 17. 
83 Ministry of Health of the Czech Republic.  
84 EEA, State of bathing waters. 
85 EEA, European bathing water quality in 2017, 2018, p. 21. 
86 COM(2017) 749 , SWD(2017)445. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

to  ensure  that  the  agglomerations  in  breach  will  reach 
compliance without delay. 

Floods Directive 

The  Floods  Directive  established  a  framework  for  the 
assessment and management of flood risks, aiming at the 
reduction  of  the  adverse  consequences  associated  with 
significant floods. 

Czech  Republic  has  adopted  and  reported  its  first  Flood 
Risk  Management  Plans  under  the  Directive  and  the 
European Commission conducted an assessment.  

The  Commission’s  assessment  found  that  good  efforts 
were made with positive results in setting objectives and 
devising  measures  focusing  on  prevention,  protection 
and  preparedness.  The  assessment  also  showed  that,  as 
was the case for other Member States, Czech Republic’s 
Flood  Risk  Management  Plans  do  not  yet 
include 
concrete  enough  measures  that  are 
linked  to  the 
objectives set and an as complete as possible estimation 
of  the  cost  of  measures.  In  addition,  there  is  scope  for 
clarifying  the  method  for  the  prioritisation  of  measures, 
including the assessment of costs and benefits. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

 

Take  steps  in  order  to  ensure  better  monitoring  in 
accordance  with  the  water  framework  directive,  in 
particular  a  sufficient  number  of  water  bodies  and 
relevant  quality 
appropriate  coverage  of  all 
elements. Operational monitoring of lakes should be 
improved  and  better  linked  with  the  pressures  and 
impacts 
quality 
analysis.  Hydromorphological 
in  both  water 
elements  should  be  monitored 
categories. 
The  Czech  Republic  should  give  increased  attention 
to  the  application  of  action  programmes  in  those 
areas  where  quality  of  the  waters  in  the  context  of 
the nitrate directive is insufficiently improving, taking 
into  account  agricultural  developments  and  the 
recommendations of the Court of Auditors report. 
Take  steps  to  clarify  the  method  for  selecting 
measures,  including  the  use  of  cost/benefit  analysis 
in relation to the Flood Risk Management Plans. 

Chemicals 

The  EU  seeks  to  ensure  that  by  2020  chemicals  are 
produced and used in ways that minimise any significant 
adverse  effects  on  human  health  and  the  environment. 
An  EU  strategy  for  a  non-toxic  environment  that  is 
conducive  to  innovation  and  to  developing  sustainable 
substitutes,  including  non-chemical  options,  is  being 
prepared. 

legislation87  provides  baseline 
The  EU’s  chemicals 
protection for human health and the environment. It also 
ensures  stability  and  predictability 
for  businesses 
operating within the internal market. 

In  2016,  the  European  Chemicals  Agency 
(ECHA) 
published  a  report  on  REACH  and  the  CLP  Regulation88 
that showed that enforcement activities are still evolving. 
Member  States  cooperate  closely  within  the  REACH 
Forum  for  Exchange  of  Information  on  Enforcement  89. 
This  cooperation  has  shown  that  there  is  scope  to 
increase  the  effectiveness  of  enforcement  activities, 
particularly  for  registration  obligations  and  safety  data 
sheets where the level of non-compliance is still relatively 
high. 

While progress has been made, there is room to further 
improve and harmonise enforcement activities across the 
EU,  including  controls  on  imported  goods.  Enforcement 
remains  weak  in  some  Member  States,  particularly  for 
controls  on  imports  and  supply  chain  obligations.  The 
in  most  EU 
enforcement  architecture 
countries and enforcement projects reveal differences in 
compliance between Member States. 

is  complex 

A  2015  Commission  study  already  emphasised  the 
importance  of  harmonised  market  surveillance  and 
enforcement  when  implementing  REACH  at  Member 
State  level,  deeming  it  to  be  a  critical  success  factor  in 
the operation of a harmonised single market90. 

In March 2018, the Commission published an evaluation 
of  REACH91.  The  evaluation  concludes  that  REACH 
delivers  on  its  objectives,  but  that  progress  made  is 
slower  than  anticipated.  In  addition,  the  registration 
dossiers often are incomplete. The evaluation underlines 
the need to enhance enforcement by all actors, including 
registrants,  downstream  users  and 
in  particular  for 
importers,  to  ensure  a  level  playing  field,  meet  the 
objectives  of  REACH  and  ensure  consistency  with  the 
actions envisaged to improve environmental compliance 
and  governance.  Consistent  reporting  of  Member  State 
enforcement activities  was considered  important  in that 
respect. 

The Czech Ministry of the Environment is responsible for 
applying 
the  REACH  Regulation.  Several  national 
institutions  enforce  the  Regulation  such  as  the  Czech 
Customs 
Environmental 

Inspection, 

Czech 

the 

87 Principally for chemicals: REACH (OJ L 396, 30.12.2006, p.1.); for 
Classification, Labelling and Packaging, the CLP Regulation (: OJ L 252, 
31.12.2006, p.1.), together with legislation on biocidal products and 
plant protection products. 
88 ECHA, Report on the Operation of REACH and CLP 2016. 
89 On the basis of the projects REF-1, REF-2 and REF-3, available here.  
90 European Commission, Monitoring the Impacts of REACH on 
Innovation, Competitiveness and SMEs, Final Report, 2015. 
91 COM(2018) 116. 

21 

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Administration  and  regional  public  health  authorities. 
The enforcement authorities inspect all legal and natural 
persons that have obligations to meet under REACH92. 

Making cities more sustainable 

EU policy on the urban environment encourages cities to 
put  policies  in  place  for  sustainable  urban  planning  and 
design.  These  should  include  innovative  approaches  to 
urban  public 
sustainable 
buildings,  energy  efficiency  and  urban  biodiversity 
conservation. 

transport  and  mobility, 

Czech  municipalities  are  generally  less  involved  in  EU 
initiatives while several initiatives are widely promoted at 
national  level.  The  national  ‘Strategy  of  support  Agenda 
21 2020’ was adopted in 2012, with its action plan being 
adopted  in  2016.  Currently,  174  Czech  cities  are  in  the 
UN MA21 database (of which 82 cities fulfil requirements 
for categories A-D). 

living 

in  Europe 

in  urban  areas 

The  population 
is 
projected to rise to just over 80% by 205093. Urban areas 
pose  particular  challenges  for  the  environment  and 
human  health,  but  they  also  provide  opportunities  for 
using  resources  more  efficiently.  The  EU  encourages 
municipalities to become greener through initiatives such 
as  the  Green  Capital  Award94,  the  Green  Leaf  Award95 
and the Green City Tool96. 

Czech  cities  are  also  involved  in  initiatives  such  as 
Eurocities and the EU Covenant of Mayors. By June 2018, 
16  Czech  municipalities  had  signed  up  to  the  EU 
Covenant of Mayors. 

Financing greener cities 

the 

In the 2014-2020 programming period, attention is given 
under  the  Partnership  Agreement  to  Czech  Republic 
regarding 
interventions, 
territorial  aspect  of 
particularly  urban  development  and  access  to  public 
least  5 %  of  the  European  Regional 
services.  At 
Development Fund (ERDF) will be invested in sustainable 
urban development. 

Participation in EU urban initiatives and networks 

Within the UDN initiatives, the ERDF is supporting urban 
innovative  actions  (UIA)  as  a  way  of  testing  new  and 
unproven  solutions  to  address  urban  challenges.  The 
UIAs  have  a  total  ERDF  budget  of  EUR 372  million  for 
2014-2020. So far, no city in Czech Republic has become 
involved  in  this  initiative.  Also,  no  Czech  city  has  ever 
been awarded the European Green Capital Award97. 

Six  Czech  municipalities  are  involved  in  the  URBACT 
initiative to support sustainable urban development98. 

The  Ministry  of 
the  Environment  runs  a  yearly 
programme  for  Village  of  the  Year  —  ‘Green  Ribbon’, 
rewarding  villages  or  rural  towns  for  good  practice  in 
green area, water and urban nature management. 

These  urban 
initiatives  and  networks  should  be 
welcomed and encouraged, as they contribute to a better 
urban  environment.  In  2017,  16 %  of  Czech  population 
living in cities felt that their residential area was affected 
by  pollution,  grime  or  other  environmental  problems, 
down from 17.8 % in 201699. 

Nature and cities 

More than 31 % of Czech Republic’s Natura 2000 network 
is  in  functional  urban  areas100,  above  the  EU  average  of 
15 % (see Figure 19). 

92 ECHA, National Inspectorates - Czech Republic.  
93 European Commission, Eurostat, Urban Europe, 2016, p.9. 
94 European Commission, European Green Capital. 
95 European Commission, European Green Leaf Award. 
96 European Commission, Green City Tool. 

97 European Commission, European Green Capital, Winning Cities. 
98 URBACT, Associated Networks by country. 
99 European Commission, Eurostat, Pollution, grime or other 
environmental problems by degree of urbanisation. 
100 European Commission, Definition of Functional Urban Areas. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Urban sprawl 101 
The urban sprawl quantified in the EEA study102 by WUP 
(weighted  urban  proliferation)  at  NUTS-2  level  was,  out 
of all the NUT regions, highest in Prague (8.56 UPU/m2 in 
2006,  up  from  8.16  UPU/m2  in  2009),  reaching  a  high 
value  level.  The  WUP  for  Czech  Republic  between  2006 
and  2009  was  growing  (2.05  to  2.11),  reaching  a  higher 
level  than  the  European  average  (EU  28+EEA-4)  of  1.64 
UPU/m2 in 2009103. 

Figure  19:  Proportion  of  Natura  2000  network 
Functional Urban Areas (FUA) 104 

in 

Prague,  Brno  and  Ostrava  are  the  Czech  cities  listed 
among  the  most  congested  cities  in  Europe,  although 
they do not  have the highest levels of traffic congestion 
(below 30)110. However, the congestion level is growing in 
Prague. Although the extension of the Prague metro was 
supported by EU funds in the programming period 2007-
2013111, 
infrastructure  projects  are 
pending like the improved connection to Prague’s Václav 
Havel  Airport  or  metro  line  D  while  no  clear  consenzus 
exist  on  the  completion  of  some  projects,  like  Prague 
Ring Road.  

further  public 

Two  dialogues  between  the  European  Commission  and 
Czech  authorities  were  held  in  2018  in  order  to  address 
the  air  quality112  and  Natura  2000  challenges  and  to 
promote  broader  policy  approach  in  relation  to  several 
sectors, including the transport.  

Traffic congestion and urban mobility 

The  number  of  passenger  cars  per  inhabitants  has  been 
growing  steadily  between  2005  (228  cars  per  1000 
inhabitants)  and  2016  (502  cars  per  1000  inhabitants) 
and  is  now  very  close  to  EU  average  (505  cars  per  1000 
inhabitants)105. 

The  age  of  the  Czech  vehicle  feet  is  higher  than  EU 
average with 60% of all passenger cars being older than 
10  years  (10-20  years)106.  Around  36%  of  all  passenger 
cars  registered  in  the  Czech  Republic  in  2016  were 
powered by diesel engines, which is also very close to the 
EU average (42%)107. The average number of hours spent 
in  traffic  congestion  annually  did  not  change  between 
2014 (23.28) and 2016 (23.23)108. 

Traffic intensity  and congestion differs across the region 
and  the  type  of  infrastructure.  According  to  the  latest 
census  (2016)109,  the  highest  traffic  intensity  can  be 
found  in  and  around  Prague  and  Brno  with  more  than 
6 000 cars/24 hours in some sections of the network. 

101 Sprawl threatens the very culture of Europe, as it creates 
environmental, social and economic impacts for both the cities and 
countryside of Europe. Moreover, it seriously undermines efforts to 
meet the global challenge of climate change. 
102 EEA, Urban Sprawl in Europe, Annex I, 2014, pp.4-5. 
103 Urban Permeation Units measure the size of the built-up area as well 
as its degree of dispersion throughout the region. 
104 European Commission, the 7th Report on Economic, Social and 
Territorial Cohesion, 2017, p. 121. 
105 Eurostat, Passenger cars in the EU.  
106 Eurostat, Passenger cars by age, 2016.  
107 EEA, Size of the vehicle fleet.  
108 European Commission, Hours spent in road congestion annually.  
109 Road and Motorway Directorate of the Czech Republic. 

110 TOMTOM, TOMTOM Traffic Index. 
111 European Commission, Regional Policy, Projects. 
112 European Commission, Clean Air Dialogue.  

23 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Part II: Enabling framework: implementation tools 

4. Green taxation, green public procurement, environmental funding and 

investments 

Figure  20:  Environmental  tax  revenues  as  %  of  GDP 
(2017)117 

Green  taxation  and  environmentally  harmful 
subsidies 

incentives, 

taxation  and  other  economic 
Financial 
instruments  are  effective  and  efficient  ways  to  meet 
environmental  policy  objectives.  The  circular  economy 
action  plan  encourages  their  use.  Environmentally 
harmful  subsidies  are  monitored  in  the  context  of  the 
European  Semester  and  the  energy  union  governance 
process. 

in 

lowest 

remains  among 

Czech  Republic’s  revenue  from  environment  related 
taxes 
the  EU. 
the 
Environmental taxes accounted for 2.07 % of GDP in 2017 
against  an  EU  average  of  2.4 %  as  shown  in  Figure  20, 
while  energy  taxes  accounted  for  1.93 %  of  GDP  against 
an  EU  average  of  1.84 %113. 
In  the  same  year, 
environmental  tax  revenues  were  5.86 %  of  total 
revenues from taxes and social-security contributions (in 
line with the EU-28 average of 5.97 %). 

Czech Republic’s tax structure results in a high proportion 
of  revenues  from  labour  tax  in  total  tax  revenues,  with 
50.1 %  in  2016,  while  the  implicit  tax  burden  on  labour 
was  39.8 %114.  Consumption  taxes  remained  relatively 
high (34.2 %, compared to the EU-28 average of 28.5 %), 
showing  that  there  is  still  considerable  potential  for 
shifting taxes from labour to consumption, particularly to 
environmental taxes. 

Since  2015,  Czech  Republic  has  made  some  progress  in 
reforming  the  tax  system,  shown  notably  by  the 
increasing  amount  of  total  tax  revenues  as  a  proportion 
of  GDP.  However,  the  Commission  has  repeatedly 
observed  in  the  European  Semester  that  environmental 
taxes continue to remain low compared to the rest of the 
EU115.  One  of  the  most  positive  environmental  taxes  is 
the  air  pollution  fee,  which  has  existed  since  1967  and 
last  amended  in  2012.  The  charges  have  increased  by 
about 37 % on average, with further yearly increases laid 
down in the legislation116. 

Meanwhile, fossil fuel subsidies fell over the past decade, 
mainly due to the phasing out of the excise tax refund for 
diesel used in agriculture by the end of 2013118. However, 
the  government  reversed  its  decision  by  reintroducing 
this measure in September 2014, allowing for retroactive 
refunds  for  fuels  consumed  from  July  2014  onwards. 
Other  tax  exemptions  for  natural  gas,  solid  fuels  and  oil 
used  for  heating  are  still  in  place.  In  2016  fossil  fuels 
subsidies amounted to EUR 156 million. 

Some  progress  has  also  been  made  on  reducing  the 
‘diesel  differential’  (difference  in  the  price  of  diesel 
versus  petrol)  since  2005.  However,  in  2016  there  was 
still  a  17 %  gap  between  petrol  and  diesel  tax  rates119. 
Excise  tax  rates  levied  on  petrol  and  diesel  in  2016 

113 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2018. 
114 European Commission, Taxation Trends Report, 2017. 
115 European Commission, European Semester Country, 2018, p. 13. 
116 Institute for European Environmental Policy, The Air pollution fee in 
the Czech Republic.  

117 Eurostat, Environmental tax revenues, 2018. 
118 OECD, Inventory of Support Measures for Fossil Fuels, 2018. 
119 European Environment Agency 2016, Environmental taxation and EU 
environmental policies, p. 27. 

24 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

remained similar to those in 2015 (EUR 0.47 per litre for 
petrol and EUR 0.40 for diesel)120. 

Green public procurement 

The  favourable  tax  treatment  for  company  cars  is  still 
cause  for  concern  in  Czech  Republic,  as  well  as  in  many 
other  EU  countries121.  Favourable  tax  treatment 
in 
principle  affects  behaviour  in  three  ways:  (i)  it  increases 
the total number of cars; (ii) it increases the use of bigger 
cars  which  emit  more  emissions:  and  (iii) it  encourages 
driving  because  of  the  free  fuel.  Harmful  environmental 
effects stemming from company car subsidies are a direct 
consequence of the three types of behaviour mentioned 
above  (more  cars,  more  expensive  cars,  and  more 
mileage), which increase fuel consumption approximately 
by  4-8 %  and  hence  also  CO2  emissions  by  the  same 
amount122. 

CO2-based  motor  vehicle  taxes  are  non-existent  in  the 
country,  but  a  surcharge  is  levied  in  addition  to  the 
administrative  registration  fee  for  vehicles  that  do  not 
comply  with  EU  emission  standards123.  Incentives  to 
encourage  people  to  buy  cars  with  lower  CO2  emissions 
were  rare  in  2016.  There  were  only  some  that  were 
linked  to  annual  circulation  taxes,  road  tolls,  and 
congestion  or  low  emission  zone  charges,  but  none 
related  to  the  acquisition  or  the  use  of  public 
infrastructure124. 

The use of alternative fuels in new passenger cars sold in 
Czech Republic has been increasing very dynamically over 
the  recent  years.  The  number  of  new  passenger  cars 
using alternative fuels tripled in 2015 compared to 2011. 
However,  in  2016  (for  the  first  time  since  2013)  the 
market  share  of  passenger  cars  using  alternative  fuels 
dropped  (from  1.49 %  in  2015  to  1.23 %  in  2016). 
Furthermore,  the  market  share  of  compressed  natural 
gas in transport significantly increased between 2014 and 
2016, as did the number of electric charging points125. 

The  EU  green  public  procurement  policies  encourage 
Member  States  to  take  further  steps  to  apply  green 
procurement  criteria  to  at  least  50 %  of  public  tenders. 
The European Commission is helping to increase the use 
of  public  procurement  as  a  strategic  tool  to  support 
environmental protection. 

The purchasing power of public procurement amounts to 
around  EUR 1.8  trillion  in  the  EU  (approximately  14%  of 
GDP).  A  substantial  proportion  of  this  money  goes  to 
sectors  with  a  high  environmental 
impact  such  as 
construction  or  transport.  Therefore,  green  public 
procurement  (GPP)  can  help  to  significantly  lower  the 
negative  impact  of  public  spending  on  the  environment 
and  can  help  support  sustainable  innovative  businesses. 
The Commission has proposed EU GPP criteria126. 

On  24 June  2017,  the  Czech  Government  approved, 
through its Resolution No 531, the rules for implementing 
a  responsible  approach  in  public  procurement  and  for 
purchasing by the State and local governments. 

According  to  the  resolution,  the  Environment  Ministry 
for  an  environmentally 
developed  a  methodology 
responsible  approach 
in  public  procurement  and 
purchasing  by  the  State  and  local  governments.  In 
cooperation  with  the  Minister  of  Labour  and  Social 
Affairs, the Environment Ministry set up a working group 
for the implementation of a responsible approach in the 
public  procurement  and  purchasing,  bringing  together 
the representatives of the central and local governments. 

The methodology contains 10 sheets for specific products 
or services (IT, imaging equipment, printing paper, tissue 
paper,  administrative  buildings  operation, 
lighting, 
furniture,  cleaning  products,  and  services  and  catering) 
and  provides  recommended  environmental  criteria, 
based on EU GPP criteria. 

A  European  Parliament  study  shows  that    the  Czech 
Republic  has  partially  implemented  the  GPP  national 
action plan127. 

120 European Commission, Taxes in Europe Database.  
121 European Commission, Taxation of Company Cars in Belgium – Room 
to Reduce their Favourable Treatment, 2017, p. 3. 
122 OECD, EU study on company car taxation: presentation of the main 
results, 2017 p. 12. 
123 European Automobile Manufacturers Association, 
CO2 Based Motor Vehicle Taxes in the EU. 
124 EEA, Appropriate taxes and incentives do affect purchases of new 
cars. 
125 European Commission, Transport in the European Union Current 
Trends and Issues, 2018, pp.27-28. 

126 In the Communication ‘Public procurement for a better 
environment’ (COM(2008) 400) the Commission recommended the 
creation of a process for setting common GPP criteria. The basic 
concept of GPP relies on having clear, verifiable, justifiable and 
ambitious environmental criteria for products and services, based on a 
life-cycle approach and scientific evidence base. 
127 European Parliament, Green Public Procurement and the Action Plan 
for the Circular Economy, 2017, pp. 79-80. 

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Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Environmental funding and investments 

European  Structural  and  Investment  Fund  (ESIF)  rules 
oblige  Member  States  to  promote  environment  and 
climate  in  their  funding  strategies  and  programmes  for 
economic, 
rural 
development and maritime policy. 

social  and 

territorial 

cohesion, 

Achieving  sustainability  involves  mobilising  public  and 
private  financing  sources128.  Use  of  the  European 
Structural  and  Investment  Funds  (ESIFs)129  is  essential  if 
countries  are  to  achieve  their  environmental  goals  and 
integrate 
into  other  policy  areas.  Other 
instruments such as Horizon 2020, the LIFE programme130 
and the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)131 
may also support the implementation and spread of good 
practices. 

these 

Moreover, 85 % of Czechs support greater EU investment 
in  environmental  protection  (in  line  with  the  EU-28 
average).  Czech  society  also  appears  to  support  circular 
economy 
initiatives  and  environmental  protection 
actions. 

European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 

Through  11  programmes,  Czech  Republic  has  been 
allocated EUR 23.9 billion from ESIF funds for 2014-2020. 
This means that with its national contribution of EUR 7.88 
billion,  Czech  Republic  has  a  total  budget  of  EUR 32.08 
billion  to  invest  in  various  areas;  for  example,  creating 
jobs and growth, research and innovation, protecting the 
environment, 
transport, 
labour  mobility,  and 
promoting  employment  and 
strengthening social inclusion132. 

sustainable 

supporting 

The  main  programme  for  implementing  environmental 
policies 
‘Operational  Programme  Environment’. 
is 
investments  for  each  environmental  sector 
Planned 
target water, waste, air, flood protection and nature. It is 
too  early  to  draw  conclusions  about  the  use  and  results 
of  ESIF  for  2014-2020.  Nevertheless,  according  to  the 
the 
2017  Annual 
programme  mentioned  above,  the  calls  for  proposals 

Implementation  Report133 

for 

128 See, for example, Action plan on financing sustainable growth 
(COM(2018) 97).  
129 i.e. the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the Cohesion 
Fund (CF), the European Social Fund (ESF), the European Agricultural 
Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the European Maritime and 
Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The ERDF, the CF and the ESF are referred to as 
the ‘cohesion policy funds’. 
130 European Commission, LIFE programme. 
131 European Investment Bank, European Fund for Strategic 
Investments, 2016. 
132 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds: 
Country factsheet - Czech Republic. 
133 State Environmental Fund of the Czech Republic, Annual report on 
the implementation of the program for 2017. 

launched by the end of 2017 by the Managing Authority 
equalled 100 % of the programme’s allocation. The most 
effective  investment  activity  falls  under  the  priority  axis 
‘Air  quality  improvements  in  human  settlements’  with  a 
total  of  23 898  exchanged  stationary  sources  of  air 
pollution by individual households by the end of 2017. 

Figure 21: ESIF 2014-2020 – EU allocation by theme,  the 
Czech Republic (EUR billion)134 

Cohesion policy 

Environmental  spending  from  the  ERDF  and  Cohesion 
Fund amounts to an estimated 10.3 % for the 2014-2020 
related 
period 
categories  of  expenditure),  which 
in  2007-2013 
corresponded to 18.1 %. 

specific  environmental 

(based  on 

Current  data  suggests  that  the  EU  funds  for  the  2007-
2013  period  were  fully  spent  (100 %,  2016  year135).  In 
terms of overall direct environmental investments, there 
was  a  slight  decrease  of  6 %  between  2008  and  2016  in 
the  Czech  operational  programmes,  from  4.1  billion  to 
3.8  billion.  As  regards  the  fields  where  there  were 
interventions,  the  biggest  shift  was  recorded  in  drinking 
water 
land 
rehabilitation (-47 %) while the investments in air quality 
increased (+86 %). 

(-51 %)  and 

investments 

(-57 %), 

IPPC 

134 European Commission, European Structural and Investment Funds 
Data By Country. 
135 European Commission, ESIF, 2007-13 Cohesion data. 

26 

                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

The interventions in 2014-2020 should lead to additional 
waste  recycling  capacities  of  700 000 t/year  or  an 
additional  150 000  people  and  84  339  people  being 
served  by 
improved  water  supply  and  wastewater 
treatment respectively. 

The  challenge  for  Czech  Republic  in  the  2014-2020 
programming period is making good use of EU funds for 
the 
and 
targeted 
environmental integration as well as to use the potential 
of  the  green  economy  for  competitiveness  and  job 
creation. 

investments 

strengthen 

to 

Rural Development 

(RDP),  which  disburses 

Funding  for  the  Czech  national  rural  development 
programme 
the  country’s 
allocation  from  the  European  Agriculture  and  Rural 
Development  Fund  (EAFRD),  amounts  to  EUR 2.305 
million. 

The  budget  for  agri-environmental-climate  measures 
represents  29.43 %  of  the  total  EAFRD  budget,  while 
measures  in  areas  facing  natural  constraints,  represent 
25.5 % of the whole budget. 

fields, 

vineyards 

Furthermore,  to  create  a  positive 
impact  on  the 
environment,  there  has  also  been  a  focus  on  providing 
aid  towards  the  building  of  drip  irrigation  structures  in 
orchards,  hop 
and  nurseries. 
Significantly, Czech authorities have also requested aid in 
an  amendment  to  their  RDP  to  replace  specific  tree 
species, planted historically due to their resilience to high 
levels of emissions (particularly sulphur), with native tree 
species. In addition to a state aid scheme to balance and 
mitigate  the  damages  caused  by  specially  protected 
animal  species  on  agricultural  land  and  in  agricultural 
holdings. 

If  Czech  Republic  was  ambitious  in  implementing  first 
pillar  greening,  it  would  clearly  help  to  improve  the 
country’s  environmental  situation  in  areas  not  covered 
by  rural  development  programmes,  including  intensive 
areas.  The  country  could  review,  if  appropriate,  its 
implementation  of  first  pillar  greening  during  the  2014-
2020 period. 

The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) 

The  CEF  is  a  key  EU  funding  instrument  developed 
specifically  to  direct 
investment  towards  European 
transport,  energy  and  digital  infrastructure  to  address 
identified  missing  links  and  bottlenecks  and  promote 
sustainability. 

By  the  end  of  2017,  the  Czech  Republic  had  signed 
agreements  for  EUR 1.1  billion  for  projects  under  the 
CEF136. 

Horizon 2020 

The  Czech  Republic  has  benefited  from  Horizon  2020 
funding  since  the  programme  started  in  2014.  As  of 
January  2019,  337  participants  have  been  granted  a 
maximum amount of EUR 70 million for projects from the 
Societal  Challenges  work  programmes  dealing  with 
environmental issues137 138.  

In  addition  to  the  abovementioned  work  programmes, 
climate and biodiversity expenditure is present across the 
entire  Horizon  2020.  In  The  Czech  Republic,  projects 
accepted  for  funding 
in  all  Horizon  2020  working 
programmes  until  December  2018  included  EUR  60 
million  destined  to  climate  action  (24.3 %  of  the  total 
Horizon  2020  contribution  to  the  country)  and  EUR  8 
million  for  biodiversity-related  actions  (3.3 %  of  the 
Horizon 2020 contribution to the country)139. 

An  example  of  a  project  involving  Czech  partners  is  the 
SIMRA  project,  which  focuses  on  community-led  social 
innovation 
the 
Mediterranean  region  with  an  impact  on  agriculture, 
forestry and rural development in particular140. 

in  Europe  and  across 

initiatives 

LIFE programme 

Since  its  launch  in  1992,  the  LIFE  programme  has  co-
financed  a  total  of  19  projects  in  Czech  Republic.  Of 
these,  four  have  focused  on  environmental  innovation, 
eight  on  nature  conservation  and  biodiversity,  one  on 
information  and  communication,  and  one  on  capacity-
building  (see  below).  Five  were  operating  grants  for 
NGOs.  These  projects  cost  a  total  of  EUR  32  million,  of 
which the EU has contributed EUR18 million141. 

During  2014-2017  the  EU  allocated  EUR 9  million  to 
Czech projects142. One of these is the LIFE project , which 
supports  the  active  conservation  of  thermophilous 

136 European Commission, European Semester Country Report for the 
Czech Republic, 2018, p. 12. 
137 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). A maximum grant amount is the maximum 
grant amount decided by the Commission. It normally corresponds to 
the requested grant, but it may be lower. 
138 i.e. (ii) Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine 
and maritime and inland water research and the bioeconomy; (iii) 
Secure, clean and efficient energy; (iv) Smart, green and integrated 
transport; and (v) Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and 
raw materials. 
139 European Commission own calculations based on CORDA (COmmon 
Research DAta Warehouse). 
140 European Commission, Revitalising rural areas through social 
innovation. 
141 European Commission, LIFE programme - Country Factsheet: Czech 
Republic. 
142 Commission services based on data provided by EASME. 

27 

                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

habitats and species of Community interest in the České 
středohoří hills, to which an EU contributed by more than 
EUR 1.5  million143.  The  LIFE  project  ‘Butterflies  CZ-SK  — 
Integrated  protection  of  rare  butterfly  species  of  non-
forest  habitats  in  Czech  Republic  and  Slovakia’,  which 
was coordinated by the Agency for Nature Conservation 
and  Landscape  Protection  of  Czech  Republic,  was 
selected as one of the best EU LIFE Natura projects 2016-
2017144. 

European Investment Bank 

Over  the  2013-2018  period,  EIB  loans  in  Czech  Republic 
amounted  to  approximately  EUR 4.2  billion.145.  In  2018 
alone, the EIB Group (the European Investment Bank and 
Investment  Fund)146 
the  European 
loaned  Czech 
businesses  and  public  institutions  EUR 707.9  million,  as 
shown in Figure 22. Of this,  EUR 53.9  million (8 %)  went 
to environmental projects. 
Figure 22: EIB loans to  the Czech Republic in 2018147 

from 2015150. 37 % of these payments were allocated to 
waste  management  activities 
(the  annual  average 
percentage of environmental spending allocated to waste 
management in the EU is 49.7 %). EUR 360.5 million was 
allocated to wastewater management (27 % of total) and 
EUR 17.5 million to pollution abatement  (1.3 % of total). 
Some 26.7 % of environmental expenditure was allocated 
to  protecting  biodiversity  and  the  landscape  (EUR 350.7 
the  general 
million).  Between  2012  and  2016, 
government  funding  for  environmental  protection  was 
EUR 8.5 billion. 

2019 priority action 

 

Improve the capacity to use EU funds. 

European Fund for Strategic Investments  

The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) aims 
to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU. 
As  of  January  2019,  it  has  mobilised  EUR 706  million  in 
Czech  Republic, and the secondary investment triggered 
by this is expected to be EUR 4 billion 148.Within the total, 
seven  projects  have  been  approved  so  far  under  the 
Infrastructure  and  Innovation  Window  (including  six 
multi-country  projects),  amounting  to  EUR 99  million  in 
EIB financing under the EFSI149. 

National environmental financing 

on 
Czech 
environmental  protection  in  2016,  a  decrease  of  28 % 

EUR 1 313.2  million 

Republic 

spent 

143 European Commission, LIFE České středohoří. 
144 European Commission, Best LIFE-Nature / Information Projects 2016-
2017; Bratislava Regional Protection Association, Envirosúťaž 
Hypericum 2018. 
145 EIB, Financed projects. 
146 The EIB Group includes EIB and EFSI investments and loans. 
147 EIB, Czech Republic and the EIB, 2018. 
148 European Investment Bank, EFSI project map. 
149 SWD(2018) 202. 

150 Eurostat, General Government Expenditure by function, 2018. 

28 

 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

5. Strengthening environmental governance 

Information, public participation and access to 
justice 

Citizens  can  more  effectively  protect  the  environment  if 
they  can  rely  on  the  three  ‘pillars’  of  the  Aarhus 
Convention:  
(i) access to information;  
(ii) public participation in decision making; and  
(iii) access to justice in environmental matters.  

It is of crucial importance to public authorities, the public 
and  business  that  environmental  information  is  shared 
efficiently  and  effectively151.  Public  participation  allows 
authorities  to  make  decisions  that  take  public  concerns 
into account. Access to justice is a set of guarantees that 
allows  citizens  and  NGOs  to  use  national  courts  to 
protect the environment152. It includes the right to bring 
legal challenges (‘legal standing’)153. 

Environmental information 

Czech  Republic  has  a  partially  centralized  system  for 
dissemination  of  environmental  data.  CENIA,  the  Czech 
Environmental Information Agency is the organisation set 
up by the Ministry of the Environment and its mission is 
the collection, evaluation, interpretation and distribution 
of  environmental  information.  A  separate  portal,  the 
Information  System  of  Statistic  and  Reporting  (ISSaR154, 
serves as a gateway to environmental information which 
publishes  data  on  the  state  of  components  of  the 
environment  and  pressures  of  the  economy  on  the 
environment in interactive and illustrative manner. There 
are  some  limits  in  accessing  industrial  emissions  related 
data.  It  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  system  set-up  is 
user-friendly  and  it  is  easy  to  find  environmental  data 
and 
in  accessing 
monitoring  data  as  these  are  only  accessible  for  air  and 
water. 

information.  There  are 

limitations 

Czech  Republic’s  performance 
implementing  the 
INSPIRE Directive could be improved. Its performance has 

in 

151 The Aarhus Convention, the Access to Environmental Information 
Directive, 2003/4/EC and the INSPIRE Directive, 2007/2 together create 
a legal foundation for the sharing of environmental information 
between public authorities and with the public. This EIR focuses on 
INSPIRE. 
152 The guarantees are explained in Commission Notice on access to 
justice in environmental matters, OJL 275, 18.8.2017 and a related 
Citizen’s Guide. 
153 This EIR looks at how well Member States explain access to justice 
rights to the public, and at legal standing and other major barriers to 
bringing cases on nature and air pollution. 
154 ISSaR. 

the 

reviewed  based  on 

been 
country’s  2016 
implementation report155 and its most recent monitoring 
data  from  2017156.  There  was  good  progress  and  good 
implementation  for  coordination,  dataset 
levels  of 
identification and documentation of data. More effort is 
needed  to  make  the  data  accessible  through  services, 
improve  the  conditions  for  data  reuse  and  prioritise 
environmental  datasets  in  implementing  the  Directive, 
especially  those  identified  as  high-value  spatial  datasets 
used for implementing environmental legislation157. 

Figure  23:  Access  to  spatial  data  through  view  and 
download services in Czech Republic (2017)  

Public participation 

In Czech Republic, separate sectoral legislation is used to 
implement the Aarhus Convention and related European 
legislation.  Neither  overarching  legislation  addressing 
also  other  policy  fields,  nor  a  single  information  portal 
appears to exist. The information gap is filled by the NGO 
sector  (Green  Circle  or  Frankbold).  There  is  also  limited 
information  on  how  public  participation  is  applied  in 
consent 
practice.  As 
procedures 
in 
environmental matters, significant legislation, aside from 
the  EIA  Act,  includes  the  Construction  Act  and  the 
Administrative  Code,  and  the  Act  to  speed  up  the 
construction 
energy 
infrastructure. 

the  development 

transport,  water 

participation 

projects 

regards 

and 

and 

on 

of 

The Eurobarometer figures from 2017 show that in Czech 
Republic, there is a relatively strong agreement  (79 % of 
respondents) that individuals can play a role in protecting 

155 INSPIRE CZ country sheet 2017. 
156 INSPIRE monitoring dashboard 
157 List of high value spatial data sets 

29 

 
 
                                                                 
 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

the environment. This is a slight improvement compared 
with 2014 but remains lower than the EU average. 

 

Ensure that the public receives practical information 
on their access to justice rights. 

Nevertheless,  public  participation  rights,  including  those 
in  environmental  matters,  have  been  criticised  by 
stakeholders  as  having  been  weakened  since  the  2017 
EIR  report.  This  is  mainly  due  to  the  amendment  to  the 
Construction Act, which has entered into force in January 
2018. There are also further plans to restrict the rights of 
public, e.g. by introducing the fees for submitting appeals 
in  order  to  discourage  from  complaining  against  the 
permits. 

As  regards  the  attitude  of  Czech  citizens  towards  the 
environment  and  nature  in  particular,  the  recent  study 
shows that they “like the idea of protecting it” (for going 
outdoor/tourism activities) but to the extent the state is 
taking care of the costs incurred158.  

Access to justice 

Czech  Republic  does  not  provide  online  information  on 
access to justice in environmental matters. 

In  general,  Czech  legislation  provides  for  a  restrictive 
rights-based  approach  to  legal  standing,  which  makes  it 
difficult  for  environmental  NGOs  to  bring  cases.  Despite 
including  the  Supreme 
this,  some  Czech  courts  – 
Administrative  Court 
-  give  a  wider  standing  to 
environmental  NGOs  in  accordance  with  the  Aarhus 
Convention and in line with the case-law of the Court of 
Justice of the European Union. 

The  NGOs  do  not  have  access  to  justice  in  the  scope 
requested by the Directive on environmental liability. The 
deficient transposition is addressed by the Commission in 
the infringement case against Czech Republic. 

2019 priority actions 

 

 

for 

Improve  access  to  spatial  data  and  services  by 
creating  stronger  links  between  the  central  INSPIRE 
website and regional portals; identify and document 
implementing 
all  spatial  datasets  required 
environmental  law159;  and,  at  a  minimum  make  the 
data  and  documentation  accessible  ‘as  is’  to  other 
public  authorities  and  the  public  through  the  digital 
services provided for in the INSPIRE Directive. 
Improve  the  legal  framework  and/or  the  practical 
application  (e.g.  by  setting  up  a  single  webpage)  to 
enable 
the 
to 
implementation  of  EU  legislation  that  affects  the 
environment in line with the Aarhus Convention. And 
consider  revisiting  the  public’s  position 
in  the 
development consent procedure. 

participate 

public 

the 

in 

158 Masaryk University reading room. 
159 European Commission, INSPIRE. 

30 

Compliance assurance 

to  ensure 

Environmental compliance assurance covers all the work 
undertaken  by  public  authorities 
that 
industries,  farmers  and  others  fulfil  their  obligations  to 
protect  water,  air  and  nature,  and  manage  waste160.  It 
includes  support  measures  provided  by  the  authorities, 
such as:  
(i) compliance promotion161;  
(ii) inspections and other checks that they carry out, i.e. 
compliance monitoring162; and  
(iii)  the  steps  that  they  take  to  stop  breaches,  impose 
sanctions  and  require  damage  to  be  remedied,  i.e. 
enforcement163.  
Citizen  science  and  complaints  enable  authorities  to 
liability164 
focus  their  efforts  better.  Environmental 
ensures that the polluter pays to remedy any damage. 

Compliance promotion and monitoring 

The  quality  of  online  information  to  farmers  on  how  to 
comply  with  obligations  on  nitrates165  and  nature  this 
information  is  an  indicator  of  how  actively  authorities 
promote  compliance 
in  subject-areas  with  serious 
implementation  gaps.  The  Ministry  of  Agriculture  of 
Czech  Republic  runs  a  ‘Farmer’s  Portal’166  with  detailed 
information about obligations related to the fertiliser use 
and  manure  storage  in  nitrate  vulnerable  zones  under 
the  Nitrates  Directive167.  However,  there  is  a  lack  of 
specific  information  on  what  farmers  should  do  to 
comply with obligations on nature. 

Major  industrial  installations  can  be  a  serious  pollution 
risk. Public authorities must have plans in place to inspect 
these  installations  and  to  make  individual  inspection 
reports  available  to  the  public168.  The  website  of  the 
Inspectorate169  or  CEI  (‘Česká 
Czech  Environmental 
inspekce životního prostředí’) provides information about 
planned inspections throughout the year170. 

160 COM(2018)10, SWD(2018)10. 
161 This EIR focuses on the help given to farmers to comply with nature 
and nitrates legislation. 
162 This EIR focuses on inspections of major industrial installations. 
163This EIR focuses on the availability of enforcement data and co-
ordination between authorities to tackle environmental crime. 
164 The Environmental Liability Directive, 2004/35, creates the 
framework. 
165 The EU Pilot was opened on the non-transposition of the Nitrate 
Directive before. 
166 The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. 
167 The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. 
168 Article 23, Industrial Emissions Directive, 2010/75/EU. 
169 The Czech Environmental Inspectorate. 
170 The Czech Environmental Inspectorate, Plan of action. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

Citizen science and complaint handling 

2019 priority actions 

Engaging  the  general  public  through  citizen  science  can 
increase knowledge about the environment and help the 
authorities  in  their  work.  The  availability  of  clear  online 
information about how to make a complaint  shows how 
responsive authorities are to complaints from the public. 
The 
and 
‘Submitting 
complaints’171  provides  clear  instructions  on  how  to 
submit  a  complaint  about  environmental  nuisances  or 
environmental damage.  

CEI  website 

suggestions 

In  2016  and  2017,  the  Czech  public  became  particularly 
engaged in air pollution problems and several air quality 
plans  were  questioned  by  public.  As  a  result,  the 
Supreme Administrative Court ruled is some of the cases 
that  an  air  quality  plan  (forPrague,  Ostrava  and  the 
Northwest)  was  insufficient’172.  Issues  addressed  by  the 
Supreme  Administrative  Court  had  been  taken 
into 
consideration and relevant provisions were incorporated 
into  the  last  amendment  of  the  Air  Act,  201/2012  Col., 
since  1st  of  September  2018.  Public 
effective 
participation in this process is considered as essential. 

Enforcement 

identifies  problems,  a  range  of 
When  monitoring 
responses  may  be  appropriate.  The  CEI’s  annual  reports 
contain information about inspections carried out during 
the  year,  including  the  list  and  description  of  the  most 
significant  instances  of  non-compliance  in  relation  to 
national  law.  However,  there  is  no  information  about 
follow-ups, 
repeated  non-
compliance.  Statistics  on  environmental  crimes  are  very 
limited  and  there  is  no  information  on  responses  to 
cross-compliance breaches on nitrates and nature. 

recommendations  or 

is  especially  challenging. 

Tackling  waste,  wildlife  crimes  and  other  environmental 
It  requires  close 
offences 
cooperation  between  inspectors,  customs  authorities, 
police and prosecutors. The CEI’s annual reports highlight 
the 
in  Czech 
Republic. 

importance  attached  to  this  matter 

Environmental liability 

The  Environmental  Liability  Directive  (ELD)  establishes  a 
framework  based  on  the  ‘polluter  pays’  principle  to 
prevent  and  remedy  environmental  damage.  The  2017 
EIR  focused  on  better  information  on  environmental 
damage, financial security and guidance. The Commission 
is still collecting evidence on progress made. 

171 The Czech Environmental Inspectorate. 
172 The Supreme Administrative Court. 

31 

  Better 

inform 

the  public  about 

compliance 
promotion,  monitoring  and  enforcement.  At  a 
involve  providing  online 
minimum  this  should 
information  to  farmers  about  how  to  comply  with 
obligations  on  nature.  Similarly,  it  should  involve 
publishing  more  information  on  the  outcomes  of 
follow-up  to 
enforcement  action  and  on  the 
detected cross-compliance breaches on nitrates and 
nature. 
Improve  financial  security  for  liabilities  and  ELD-
guidance  and  publish  information  on  environmental 
damage. 

 

Effectiveness 
administrations 

of 

environmental 

in 

involved 

implementing 

Those 
environmental 
legislation at EU, national, regional and local levels need 
to have the knowledge, tools and capacity to ensure that 
the  legislation  and  the  governance  of  the  enforcement 
process bring about the intended benefits. 

Administrative capacity and quality 

Central, regional and local administrations must have the 
ability  to  carry  out  their  own  tasks  and  work  effectively 
with  each  other,  within  a  system  of  multi-level 
governance. 

In general, the Czech administration is able to implement 
EU  environmental  legislation  provided  it  matches  with 
the  national  interests173.  The  Czech  experts  are  often 
involved in twinning projects with other Member States. 
Cooperation  between  administration  and  experts  from 
universities  or  the  Czech  Academy  of  Science  and 
NGOs174 is developed.  

several  ministries.  The  Ministry  of 

The critical competences, like in water sector are divided 
among 
the 
Environment175 is responsible for the protection of water 
ecosystems (including floods), Ministry of Agriculture for 
water  management  (including  irrigation;  the  issue  of 
droughts is a joint competence) while the Ministry of the 
Transport is in charge of planning and implementation of 
infrastructural  projects  in  inland  navigation.  This  means 
than  on  one  hand,  there  is  a  scope  for  balance  of 

173 The responsibility for environmental laws and policies lies with the 
Ministry of Environment or Regional Authorities (e.g. environmental 
departments of regional authorities). 
174 There are approximately 120 environmental NGOs operating at 
national or local level in The Czech Republic. The role of NGOs in 
environmental education, nature conservation and support of 
sustainable living is traditionally very important. Around 30 NGOs are 
organised since 1989 in the platform ‘Green Circle’. 
175 Ministry of the Environment proposed in 2018 the reform in the 
water competences and creation of a new, regulatory water office.  

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

different interests, on the other hand, there is a need to 
establish  a  constructive  dialog  about 
infrastructure 
projects176  as  otherwise  the  decision  making  process 
remains prone to the politically desired outcomes rather 
than scientific evidence.  

Czech  Republic  has  an  average  number  of  active 
infringements  concerning  mainly  non-conformity  and 
poor application of EU environmental law177. These cases 
concern  all  main  sectors,  i.e.  impact  assessment  waste, 
water  and  air.  Infringements  in  the  area  of  impact 
assessments  relate  to  the  legacy  of  late  transposition  of 
EU law. 

As assessed in the 2017 EIR report, the Czech Republic’s 
environmental  legislation178  was  found  not  to  conform 
(EIA) 
with 
Directive.  

Impact  Assessment 

the  Environmental 

An  amendment  to  the  national  EIA  law,  in  force  since 
April  2015,  has  addressed  a  number  of  deficiencies, 
although  not  all179.  Therefore,  Czech  Republic  adopted 
legal 
methodological  guidance 
changes.  The  application  of  the  guidance 
is  being 
monitored  as  whether  it  satisfies  the  grievances.  As 
pointed already above, there were however several steps 
taken since and other foreseen to be  taken which might 
negate this development.  

to  supplement 

the 

Coordination and integration 

Environmental 

As  mentioned  in  the  2017  EIR,  the  transposition  of  the 
revised 
(EIA) 
Directive180 into national law provides an opportunity for 
countries  to  streamline  the  regulatory  framework  on 
environmental  assessments.  Despite  a  delay,  Czech 

Impact  Assessment 

176 Example of discussions on-goind during decades are navigation 
projects Decin and Prelouc on Elbe river. 
177 European Commission, Infringement Decisions. 
178 Zákon č. 100/2001 Sb., o posuzování vlivů na životní prostředí a o 
změně některých souvisejících zákonů (zákon o posuzování vlivů na 
životní prostředí), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. 
179 European Commission, December infringements package: key 
decisions, 17.12.2017. 
180 Directive 2014/52/EU. 

32 

Republic  has  now 
Directive181.  

fully 

transposed 

the 

revised 

the 

The  Commission  encourages 
streamlining  of 
environmental  assessments  to  reduce  duplication  and 
for 
avoid  overlaps 
projects.  Moreover,  streamlining  helps 
reduce 
unnecessary  administrative  burden.  It  also  accelerates 
decision-making,  without  compromising  the  quality  of 
the environmental assessment procedure182. 

in  environmental  assessments 

to 

The Czech development consent system for projects has 
multiple  stages;  the  EIA,  the  zoning  decision  and  the 
infrastructure  projects  (mainly 
building  permit.  The 
transport  sector)  have 
long  preparation  period  and 
projects with old/pre-accession EIAs are still in a pipeline 
for EU co-financing in programming period 2014-2020.  

Streamlining  or  simplifying  the  whole  framework 
is 
contingent upon the Building Act. The last amendment to 
the  Construction  Act  enables  EIA  and  zoning  decision 
procedures to be integrated183. The EIA and Natura 2000 
assessments  had  already  been  integrated  into  the  EIA 
process  before  the  revision  of  the  EIA  Directive.  Other 
assessments like those carried out under the Water FD or 
Industrial  Emissions  Directive  are  not.  As  regards  the 
crucial provisions of the Water Framework Directive (Art 
4  and  in  particular  Art  4.7),  which  could  have  an 
implication  on  the  option  analysis  of  the  project 
undergoing  also  EIA  assessment,  Czech  Republic  had  a 
transposition  and  application  gap  (until  2010  and  2018 
respectively).  To  this  end,  the  Guidance  for  water 
authorities was adopted in 2018184. 

Apart from the examples on inefficient system of interim 
reliefs  applied  in  Czech  Republic185,  there  seems  to  be 
another  practice  over  the  use  of  the  trial  permit  in  the 
absence  of  the  final  development  permit186  that  may 
render  the  provisions  of  EIA  Directive  ineffective.  It  is 
necessary  to  evaluate  each  case  individually,  since  the 
trial  permits  play  a  crucial  role  in  the  authorization 
process.  On  one  hand,  it  can  be  an  effective  tool  for  a 
developer or affected administrative bodies for control or 
their 
detecting  potential  project  weakness  and 

181 Zákon č. 326/2017 Sb. Zákon, kterým se mění Zákon č. 100/2001 Sb. 
182 The Commission issued a guidance document in 2016 regarding the 
setting up of coordinated and/or joint procedures that are 
simultaneously subject to assessments under the EIA Directive, Habitats 
Directive, Water Framework Directive, and the Industrial Emissions 
Directive, OJ C 273, 27.7.2016, p. 1. 
183 One of the main featured of last modification of building act was 
aimed at simplifying the building procedure (merging the 
environmental impact assessment in the zoning decision or in the joint 
zoning and building permit), but the actual uptake of this possibility is 
very low. It seems that streamlining was finally achieved only on the 
costs of public participation rights. 
184 The Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic. 
185 Example is project D8 higway, section Lovosice-Rehlovice. 
186 Example is project Prague Ring Road, section SOPK 512. 

 
                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

subsequent  removal,  on  the  other  hand  it  can  be  an 
instrument  to  circumvent  the  obligations  laid  down  by 
the EIA Directive. 

Adaptability, 
(eGovernment) 

reform 

dynamics 

and 

innovation 

Although  Czech  public  authorities  are 
increasingly 
adopting  and  using  electronic  services  that  enable  them 
to interact with the public online, the country performed 
below  the  EU  average  in  2018187.  For  Digital  Public 
Services,  the  country  has  a  score  of  0.50/1  based  on 
Europe's  Digital  Progress  Report  2018,  lower  than  the 
EU28  average  (0.575/1)188.  However,  the  situation  has 
considerably  improved  since  the  year  2016,  mainly  in 
terms  of  open  data.  In  the  DESI  Report  2018,  the  Czech 
Republic  had  a  score  of  50  out  of  100  on  digital  public 
services, lower than the EU average of 58189. 

services. 

The  government  plans  to  launch  an  interactive  citizens’ 
portal,  acting  as  a  national  gateway  for  personalised  e-
accessibility, 
To 
government 
classification of the available public sector digital services 
(some 700) is ongoing, with a view to cataloguing them. 
This  should  raise  awareness  of  e-government  services 
from the currently low levels, which is one of the barriers 
to their broader usage. 

improve 

The drawdown of available EU funds for the development 
of eGovernment services has been low so far. The actions 
put in place by the country to improve availability, quality 
and promotion of eGovernment services could contribute 
to improvements in this dimension. 

Enabling financing and effective use of funds 

A slower  start  of the 2014-2020 ESI Funds programming 
period and certain implementation problems resulted  in 
a  low  use  of  EU  funds,  notably  in  areas  such  as  energy 
efficiency190. 
In  addition,  sometimes  environmental 
projects  suffer  delays  and  funding  is  finally  allocated  to 
other domains. 

2019 priority action 

  Consider  the  possibilities  for  further  streamlining 
environmental 
procedures,  while 
assessment 
ensuring that the public can properly participate. 

187 European Commission, DESI country profile Czech Republic, 2018. 
188 European Commission, Europe's Digital Progress Report (EDPR) 2017 
Country Profile Czech republic, p. 10. 
189 European Commission, Digital Economy and Society Index Report 
2018, Digital Public Services. 
190 European Commission, European Semester Country Report (CZ) 
2018, p. 2.  

33 

International agreements 

The  EU  Treaties  require  the  EU  environmental  policy  to 
promote  measures  at  international  level  to  deal  with 
regional or worldwide environmental problems. 

The EU is committed to strengthening environmental law 
and its implementation globally. It therefore continues to 
support  the  Global  Pact  for  the  Environment  process, 
which  was  launched  by  the  United  Nations  General 
Assembly  in  May  2018191.  The  EIR  is  one  of  the  tools  to 
ensure  that  the  Member  States  set  a  good  example  by 
respecting  European  Union  environmental  policies  and 
laws and international agreements.  
Forests:  EU  Timber  Regulation  (EUTR)192/  Forest  Law 
Enforcement,  Governance 
(FLEGT) 
Regulation193 

Trade 

and 

The  Czech  Republic  reported  that  around  300 000 
operators  placed  domestic  timber  onto  the  EU  market 
and  2 500  operators  imported  timber.  Between  March 
2015  and  February  2017,  Czech  authorities  conducted 
119  checks  on  operators  dealing  with  domestic  timber 
products  and  68  checks  on  operators  placing  imported 
timber  on  the  market.  These  numbers  are  relatively  in 
line  with  previously  planned  checks.  Based  on  these 
checks, diverse enforcement actions, including penalties, 
were  imposed  on  operators  placing  both  domestic  (84 
actions) and imported timber (48 actions) on the market. 

Moreover,  over  the  two-year  period,  Czech  Republic 
carried  out  213  checks  on  traders,  which  can  be 
considered  quite  a  high  number  compared  to  other 
countries194. 

On cooperation (Art. 12 EUTR), Czech Republic reports to 
have  collaborated  mainly  with  national  customs/tax 
agencies  and  the  national  police,  or  other  enforcement 
agencies. 

Genetic  resources:  Nagoya  Protocol  on  Access  to 
Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of 
Benefits Arising (ABS)195  

Under  the  EU  ABS  Regulation,  which  transposes  the 
required  compliance  measures  under 
the  Nagoya 
Protocol  into  the  EU  legal  system,  Czech  Republic  has 
appointed  competent  authorities  for  genetic  resources. 

191 UN General Assembly Resolution 72/277 and Organizational session 
of the ad hoc open-ended working group.  
192 Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the 
Council of 20 October 2010. 
193 Council Regulation (EC) No 2173/2005. 
194 Traders were checked by 19 countries, with numbers of checks 
ranging from 1 (Denmark, France, Luxembourg) to 747 (Cyprus). 12 out 
of 19 countries conducted between 1 and 65 checks. 
195 Regulation (EU) No 511/2014. 

                                                                 
                                                                 
Environmental Implementation Review 2019 – Czech Republic 

As  regards  the  rules  for  penalising  infringements  of  the 
Regulation, this is to be further checked196. 

International  wildlife 
the  Convention  on 
trade: 
International  Trade  in  Endangered  Species  of  Wild 
Fauna and Flora (CITES)197 

In  line  with  the  obligations  laid  down  in  the  Basic 
Regulation198,  which  transposes  the  major  obligations  of 
the  Convention  on  International  Trade  in  Endangered 
Species  of  Wild  Fauna  and  Flora  (CITES)  into  EU  law, 
Czech  Republic  has  established 
relevant  national 
authorities  and  is  processing  (requests  for)  import,  (re-) 
export and intra-EU trade documents on a regular basis. 

Reports  on  seizures  of  illegal  wildlife  shipments  (in 
particular  those  reported  every  6  months  to  TRAFFIC 
under  its  contract  with  the  Commission,  and  those 
exchanged  through  the  EU-TWIX  platform,  show  the 
extent of the customs authorities’ activity. 

To ensure that the EU Wildlife action plan (2016) is fully 
implemented and to improve the rate for detecting illegal 
activities, Czech Republic’s competent national and local 
authorities  have  established  regular  checks  on  traders, 
breeders  and  keepers,  in  addition  to  checks  at  border-
crossing  points.  Czech  Republic  was  also  involved  in  the 
Pannon Eagle Life Project199, which focuses on protecting 
the  Eastern 
Imperial  Eagle.  Furthermore,  to  boost 
international  cooperation  in  the  fight  against  wildlife 
crime,  Czech  authorities  bilaterally  cooperate  with 
enforcement authorities from Vietnam, as this country is 
an important  destination  for  illegal  wildlife commodities 
exported from Europe. 

2019 priority action 

 

Increase  efforts  to  be  party  to  relevant  multilateral 
environmental  agreements,  by  signing  and  ratifying 
the remaining ones.  

Sustainable 
implementation of the UN SDGs 

development 

and 

the 

Sustainable development links environmental, social and 
economic policies in a coherent framework and therefore 
helps  to 
legislation  and 
policies. 

implement  environmental 

Czech  Republic  has  implemented  the  principles  of  the 
SDGs in a strategic framework document ‘Czech Republic 
2030’  200. 
is  the  strategic 

‘Czech  Republic  2030’ 

196 The Czech Republic has adopted ABS Act No. 93/2018 Coll., which 
came into effect on 20 June 2018. 
197 The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of 
Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). 
198 Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97. 
199 Brief summary of the Pannon Eagle LIFE project goals. 
200 Government of the Czech Republic, Czech Republic in 2030. 

framework  setting  long-term  development  priorities  for 
the country, which will help to improve the quality of life 
for  current  and  future  generations.  The  framework, 
approved by the government in April 2017, replaced the 
2010 strategic framework for sustainable development of 
Czech  Republic.  In  October  2018,  the  implementation 
plan  for  the  framework  was  adopted  201.  As  regards  the 
measures  and  recommendations  for  each  of  97  specific 
national  targets  which  should  have  been  part  of  other 
national  strategies  and  policies,  each  ministry 
is 
responsible for allocating funds within its own budged. 

levels 

The  sustainable  development  agenda  is  coordinated  at 
the  national 
level  by  the  Government  Council  on 
Sustainable  Development,  chaired  by  the  Vice  Prime 
Minister  and  Minister  of  Environment.  Coordination 
is  fostered  by  the 
between  the  sub-national 
Building  Act  of  2006,  a  law  that  aims  to  implement 
several  previous  NSDS  objectives  and  integrated  tools 
(ITI,  IPRÚ,  CLLD)  under  the  auspices  of  the  Ministry  of 
Regional  Development.  In  2014,  the  Committee  for 
Sustainable  Municipalities  was  established  as  a  part  of 
renewed 
Sustainable 
Development  which  gathers  the  representatives  of 
relevant ministries, municipal associations, academia and 
sustainable 
NGOs.  The  Government  Council 
development cooperates with the Association of Regions 
and  the  Union  of  Towns  and  Municipalities  and  other 
stakeholders  in  the  Council  ‘Working  Group  for  LA  21’. 
This  working  group  involves  various  stakeholders  and  is 
very active in developing bottom-up strategies based on 
local situations and activities. 

Government 

Council 

for 

of 

According  to  the  Implementation  Plan  of  the  strategic 
framework  ‘Czech  Republic  2030’,  the  first  monitoring 
report for the period 2017-2019 will be presented to the 
government in 2020202. However, in 2017, Czech Republic 
submitted  a  voluntary  national  review  ‘National  Report 
on  the 
for 
Sustainable Development’ 203 to the UN. 

Implementation  of  the  2030  Agenda 

201 Strategic Framework Czech Republic 2030. 
202 Government of the Czech Republic, Implementation plan for 
Strategic Framework Republic 2030. 
203 Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, Government 
Council for Sustainable Development. 

34