Country Specific Recommendations – Guidelines for Short and Long Run

In its 2016 recommendations for the Czech Republic, the European Commission pointed out the need for sustainable public finance, removing the regulatory and administrative barriers impeding investments, improvement of the management of research and development system including matching academic world with private.

The recommendations adopted so far have focused rather on short term targets. This time – within the sixth cycle, the Commission has also made its comments on long term targets such as public finance and economy development. The recommendations reflect the government ́s political programme. However the realization and political support of individual initiatives are key, agreed representatives of national and EU institutions, trade unions, business and other stakeholders who discussed the CSRs on 15th June 2016 in European House in Prague. The speakers agreed that the recommendations focus on key areas of Czech economy, though the political support and implementation are key. They highlighted that the recommendations should focus on a long run and ensure stability of decision-making process regarding the public finance.

On the other hand, the speakers deem that the recommendations lack areas such as level of wages, work productivity and quantified administrative burden on businesses. The CSRs were confirmed by the European summit held in June and formally approved by ministers of finance at their meeting in July.