C 334/24
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
1.9.2022
by 0,9 percentage points and 1,7 percentage points of GDP respectively by 2070 due to the ageing population.
While the fragmentation of long-term care governance and financing is already covered in the recovery and resilience plan, further addressing ageing-related challenges will be essential to restore the long-term sustainability of public finances.
Policy options include raising the retirement age in line with the increase in life expectancy, adjusting the pension indexing rates to reflect the fiscal sustainability of the pension system, incentivising the increase in participation rates of people over the age of 60, or taking other measures to strengthen the labour supply.
(21)
In accordance with Article 19(3), point (b), of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and criterion 2.2 of Annex V to that Regulation, the recovery and resilience plan includes an extensive set of mutually reinforcing reforms and investments with an indicative timetable for implementation to be completed by 31 August 2026.
These help address all or a significant subset of the economic and social challenges outlined in the country-specific recom­ mendations addressed to Czechia by the Council in the European Semester in 2019 and 2020, in addition to any country-specific recommendations issued up to the date of adoption of a recovery and resilience plan.
In particular, on energy, Czechia plans to use the Recovery and Resilience Facility to expand the use of renewable energy sources, in particular photovoltaics, improve energy efficiency in residential and public buildings and support the replacement of coal-fired boilers in households.
Sustainable transport is promoted by investing in railway infra­ structure, clean urban transport and by encouraging the use of low-emission vehicles.
Recommendations in the area of research and development (R & D) are addressed by investment geared at strengthening public-private cooperation as well as innovation framework support and financial/non-financial support to innovative firms.
The business environment is being improved by several e-government measures, anti-corruption reforms and a compre­ hensive reform of the procedure for granting building permits, which currently represent major obstacles to investment in Czechia.
Key measures to address the labour market recommendations include upskilling and reskilling programmes to prepare the labour force for the green and digital transition, and new childcare facilities for children under three years to boost the number of women working or looking for a job.
On education, the recovery and resilience plan aims to boost the digital literacy of pupils and teachers, to provide schools with digital equipment, while ensuring inclusive education through support to disadvantaged schools and tutoring.
Healthcare recommendations are addressed through increased cancer prevention and rehabilitation care, the development of an e-health portal to promote integrated care practices, and support to education in healthcare.
Further comple­ mentary actions include measures to improve long-term care.
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The implementation of the recovery and resilience plan of Czechia is expected to contribute to making further progress on the green and digital transitions.
Measures supporting the climate objectives in Czechia account for 42 % of the recovery and resilience plan’s total allocation, while measures supporting digital objectives account for 22 % of the recovery and resilience plan’s total allocation.
The fully fledged implementation of the recovery and resilience plan, in line with the relevant milestones and targets, will help Czechia swiftly recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, while strengthening its resilience.
The systematic involvement of social partners and other relevant stakeholders remains important for the successful implementation of the recovery and resilience plan, as well as other economic and employment policies going beyond the recovery and resilience plan, to ensure broad ownership of the overall policy agenda.
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The Commission approved the Partnership Agreement, provided for in Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17), of Czechia on 13 May 2022.
Czechia submitted seven programmes provided for in that Regulation in December 2021 and January 2022.
The Just Transition Programme was submitted on 16 March 2022.
In line with Regulation (EU) 2021/1060, Czechia is to take into account the relevant country-specific recommendations in the programming of the 2021–2027 cohesion policy funds.
This is a prerequisite for improving the effectiveness and maximising the added value of the financial support to be received from cohesion policy funds, while promoting coordination, complementarity and coherence between those cohesion policy funds and other Union instruments and funds.
The successful implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility and cohesion policy programmes also depends on the removal of bottlenecks to investments to support the green and digital transitions and balanced territorial development.
(17) Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (OJ L 231, 30.6.2021, p. 159).