Brussels releases corruption-locked cash

The Czech government can heave a sigh of relief now that it has finally secured the release of European funding blocked since February by Brussels, which was insisting that Prague make greater efforts to fight corruption. In August, “Brussels re-established funding, enabling the Czech Republic to obtain an initial payment of nine billion koruna” (around €360 million), notesHospodářské noviny. According to the Czech Ministry of Finance, the country is counting on receiving 29 billion koruna (around €1.2 billion), before the end of the year, which will be spent on ongoing infrastructure programmes.

The Commission had decided to suspend the payment of European grants to the Czech Republic after discovering irregularities in audits sent to Brussels and a number of corruption scandals. However, the newspaper explains that the June arrest of the former governor of the Central Bohemian Region, David Rath, and the work of prosecutors and police in recent months have given Brussels reason to hope that the Czech Republic is committed to a more equitable distribution of European grants —

As Brussels announced in the second half of July, the Czech government’s implementation of the ‘action plan’ demanded by the Commission has improved the situation.