Czech audit office finds EU funds often lack measurable public benefit

The Czech Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) says European funding is often being used on projects whose public value is weak, declining over time or insufficiently demonstrated. Its review of 14 audits recommends concentrating support, requiring greater recipient co-financing and judging projects by their actual results rather than formal compliance alone.

Formal compliance has not guaranteed useful investment

The NKÚ said Czech recipients have learned to draw EU grants correctly in formal terms, but that money is often directed to projects where it is not needed or where the original rationale fades over time. The office’s examples include children’s playgrounds, pavements that lead nowhere and large volumes of unused methodology. It said public authorities must first define what an investment is intended to achieve, then assess whether that result has been delivered. The finding concerns the effectiveness of spending, rather than an allegation that every funded project is improper. The review covered 14 audits connected with EU funds, completed between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026.

Audit findings point to weak outcomes in two sectors

Clean mobility illustrates the gap between spending and results identified by the NKÚ. Despite investment of CZK 5.3 billion, Czechia remained among the weaker EU countries in the spread of electric mobility and did not meet part of its targets for charging infrastructure. The office also cited energy savings and renewable sources: support of more than CZK 26 billion had, according to its findings, only a negligible effect on total energy consumption in industry and services. These examples do not establish that the individual recipients acted unlawfully. They show why grant schemes need outcome measures that test whether investment changes conditions in the intended sector.

Co-financing would put more risk with recipients

The NKÚ recommends reducing the number of supported areas and focusing assistance on a much smaller group of strategic priorities. It also calls for higher co-financing, meaning a larger share paid by the recipient, alongside wider use of loans and guarantees. The proposed mechanism is intended to restore ordinary market incentives: an applicant contributing more of its own money has a direct financial interest in whether an investment is useful and can bear part of the risk. Grants would therefore remain available, but their design would place greater emphasis on need, expected benefit and the recipient’s commitment than on spending an allocation simply because it exists.

A new control law will emphasise measurable objectives

The NKÚ’s recommendations coincide with a new law on the management and control of public finances, due to take effect on 1 January next year. Miloslav Kala, the office’s president, said the law moves attention away from checking individual formal actions and towards the system used to manage public money. It will require public authorities to set concrete, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound objectives, with simple and reliable indicators where relevant. The audit office also warned that Czechia will probably receive less EU money in the 2028 to 2034 programming period. That makes the conditions attached to funding more important, particularly because the money comes from European taxpayers.

Reported from e15.cz, 2026-11-02. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.