Czech Recovery Plan Boosts CCI Development
The Recovery and Resilience Facility is the European Union’s main tool for recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and driving the green and digital transition. It offers up to €672.5 billion across the EU in grants and loans. Czechia has requested €7.1 billion in grants. The Czech Recovery Plan focuses on six key areas: digital transformation, green infrastructure, education and jobs, research and innovation, public administration, and healthcare. The plan is being implemented over the period 2022–2026.
A significant part of the Czech Recovery Plan supports the revival of cultural and creative industries, which were heavily affected by the pandemic. It aims to make them a stronger part of the Czech economy and innovation ecosystem, with a special focus on digitalisation and regional development. The individual sub-components of the Czech Recovery Plan in the field of the cultural and creative sector focus on three key areas: legislative reforms, targeted investments, and new support tools.
On the legislative side, the Law on Public Cultural Institutions has been adopted. The reform enables multi-source financing of cultural institutions by public and private entities, aiming for more sustainable funding and better cooperation across government levels.
Key investment activities include the creation of Regional Cultural and Creative Centres across Czechia, across the whole country, to connect culture with innovation. These centres focus on reusing existing buildings and improving cultural infrastructure.
The Digitalisation of Cultural Content is supported through grants and the development of a common methodology to help institutions digitise collections more efficiently. Among the new financial support tools is the Creative Vouchers scheme, which allows small and medium-sized businesses to collaborate with creative professionals.
Through seven funding calls – Creative Vouchers, Design Credits, and one specifically focused on the audiovisual sector – a total of 3,300 vouchers will be distributed to promote innovation and regional balance. A National Gallery of Creative Professionals has also been developed to support and administer these calls.
The Status of the Artist initiative includes a series of grant calls aimed at supporting skills development and increasing the international competitiveness of cultural and creative professionals, particularly in the implementation of innovative projects (e.g. in the field of creative learning).
The needs in the cultural and creative sector, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, have also initiated the emergence of a national register of artists, which will provide the Ministry of Culture with a data-driven overview of cultural professionals and enable better targeting of support programmes and other policy tools.
