The document summarizes the history of regional policy and public administration in the Czech Republic. It discusses the communist era abolition of local authorities and establishment of national committees, as well as the restoration of self-governance in 1990 and establishment of municipalities and regions in 2000. The European Commission recommended establishing a regional self-governance system and regional development policy to address disparities. This led to the creation of 14 self-governing regions in 1997 and a public administration reform establishing the regional division that exists today. The document also outlines the national strategies and policies aimed at promoting economic growth and reducing regional disparities.

1. May 2014
Regional Policy of the Czech Republic
Daniel Braun
deputy minister of regional development

2. History of public administration & regional division of the Czech Republic
 1948 a communist coup d‘etat (takeover)– abolition of public
administration and local authorities. Act 150/1948 Coll. – 9th May
Constitution
 Government is a supreme authority of the state power. Local
authorities replaced by National Committees on the level of
municipality, district and a region - (kraj)
 National Committees (NC) are state administration authorities (NC
were so called „elected“ bodies between 1948 – 1990)
 Act 280/1948 on Regions – (Zákon o krajském zřízení), on the
territory of the Czech Republic there were 13 regions and 179
districts, in 1960 reduced to 7, resp. 76, - a new territorial reform
based on Act 36/1960 Coll. on territorial division.
 1990 restoration of self-governance – abolition of regions without
compensation = more competence to the districts. Establishing of
municipalities with municipal offices
 Act 367/1990 Coll. on municipal arrangement enabled the
founding of municipalities

3. History of public administration & regional division of the Czech
Republic
 since 1990 - public administration was represented by the
municipalities and their bodies and also by the districts as the
lowest level of state administration
 Perspective of EU membership - discussion on the public
administration reform and regional policy issues started
– setting up a regional self-governance
- rewrite competences on all levels of public service institutions
- draw up an Act on budgetary rules
- draw up an Act on civil service, property of the state and basic
Civil code
 1996 - The Czech Republic submitted its Application for the EU
membership
 1997 – European Commission issued its Opinion on the Czech
Republic

4. History of public administration & regional division of the Czech Republic
 The European Commission stated that there is
- no regional self-governance
- no act on Civil Service
- no strategy on Public Administration Reform
- no Regional development policy
- regional development initiatives are implemented through
several national approaches while there is no independent regional
development policy
 Government Resolution of July 1998 pointed out the Public
Administration Reform and Regional Policy as its priority
 1997 – A Constitutional Law 347/1997 on establishing of Higher
territorial self-governing units (kraje), effective as of January 2000.
Set up of 14 self-governing regions including City of Prague
(Prague is a municipality and a region as well)
 mezzo-regional arrangement based on regions - contrary to the
macro-regional based on Lands (Bohemia and Moravia- Silesia)

5. Public administration reform 2000 - 2002
in the Czech Republic
 The objective of Public Administration reform was
- improve the quality
- bring it closer to the citizens
 Administrative division of the Czech Republic is rather a
complicated one and reflects historical development of the
settlement.
 It is characterized by the municipal fragmentation (6251 - 2012) -
there is a large number of small municipalities with less than 500
inhabitants. They make up to 57,8% of all municipalities, but with
only 7,9% of all inhabitants
 From the administrative arrangement point of view the Czech
Republic is divided into municipalities that represent the
fundamental self-governing units, and regions that represent
higher self-governing units (kraje).

6. Settlement in the Czech Republic – Municipalities with
500 inhabitants and more

7. 5
Vertical structure
is derived from the structure of Public Administration
8 (NUTS 2) Cohesion Regions - have no executive power (created
for the purpose of the EU regional policy – economic & social
cohesion/management of Structural Funds) (NUTS regions: EU
Regulation 1059/2003 on the establishment of common classification of
territorial units for statistics)
 14 Self-governing regions (NUTS 3)
 77 Districts – LAU 1 (since 2003 for statistical purposes only)
 206 municipalities with extended powers (ORP-MEP)
 394 municipalities with authorized municipal office (ORP-AMO)
 26 corporate cities (cities with population over 50.000)
 6 251 municipalities (LAU 2) (2012)

8. 8
8 Cohesion Regions (NUTS 2) NUTS regions were negotiated with the European
Commission and Eurostat and then established following the Government Decision
707/1998.

9. Self-governing regions and administrative areas of municipalities with extended
powers

10. Public Administration reform
 Territorial self-governing units are territorial associations that are
entitled to self-government.
 According to the Constitution of Czech Republic the municipalities
and Higher regional self-governing units are managed by elected
local (regional)boards and may be entrusted with execution
of state administration.
 There is a combined model of the state administration in the
Czech Republic. In this model Higher self-governing regions
(kraje) and local authorities (obce -municipalities) execute not
only their own self-governing powers but also competencies
delegated from the state on them. (Tasks of state administration
in areas specified by a special Act).
 Administrative reform defines division of competencies and
responsibilities between the authorities on national, regional
and local levels.

11. Municipalities, public administration reform and cooperation in
order to improve public administration and local develpoment
 municipal fragmentation in the Czech Republic is being seen as an
obstacle to better governance and local development
 6251 municipalities – the smallest one Vysoká Lhota in South
Bohemian region population 18 (2012),
Prague population 1 246 780 (2012)
 a great degree of municipal freedom is not always accompanied
by measures based on the principle of functional areas around
one or two small to medium sized towns
 Complex functional size of the town is a share of
- number of inhabitants living in the town (residential function)
- number of job opportunities the town offers (employment)
- range of services available (service function)
 service delivery is now organized with 206 municipalities with
(ORP- MEP municipalities with extended powers also called small
districts) holding delegated state powers that they exercise for
wider area

12. REGIONAL STRUCTURE: Self-governing regions (NUTS III)
are responsible for regional development policy & economic and
social development on their territory;
 they have own budgets
 they co-ordinate development of the regions
 arrange production, implementation and monitoring of the region‘s
development programmes
 evaluate intraregional disparities
 participate in the process of allocation of public funding to support regional
development
 they provide support and loans to municipalities and other legal entities such
as micro- regions and co-ordinate their development objectives
Municipalities (LAU 2) Coordinate of their own territorial development based
on the spatial plans, and development strategies

13. 22
STRATEGIC DOCUMENTS for local and regional development
REGIONAL POLICY VS SPATIAL DEVELOPMENT POLICY
Spatial Development Policy of
the Czech Republic - 2008
Act 183/2006 Coll. on town and country
planning

Principles of Spatial Development
Self-governing regions (NUTS III)

Regulatory plans
(municipality –Lau 2)
Regional Development Strategy
of the Czech Republic -2006
Act 248/2000 Coll.,
on support to regional development

Regional Development Programme
NUTS III

Development programmes of
municipalities and integrated
urban development plans

14. Cooperation in order to improve public administration and
local development
 Local Action Groups (LAG) so called „Leader regions“ is another
form of micro-regions, generating bottom up from 2004 when the
Czech Republic joined the EU.
 They represent another form of leader micro-regions as a
continuous territorial unit with 10 000 – 100 000 inhabitants and
population density not exceeding 120inhabitants/km2
 there are more than 150 such regions now.
 Leader is an important form of grouping of municipalities in order
to support development of the rural regions
 LAG must have legal identity in the Czech Republic and must have
a development strategy in accordance with LEADER programmes.

15. Territorial typology of the Czech Republic:
peripheral;stabilized; developed urbanized areas

16. Territorial Typology
Regional potential and factors of regional competitiveness
are generally concentrated (in deferent intensity) into areas with high
population density- poles of growth. From point of view of synergy of
above named factors it defines
three types of areas:
I.
 1. Prague metropolitan area and its surroundings of the
Central Bohemia region, metropolitan areas of Brno, Ostrava,
Plzeň
 2. Urban agglomerations - represented by regional/corporate
towns and their surroundings – 100 – 300 thousand inhabitants
 3. Regional centers and their surroundings areas with 25 –
100 thousand inhabitants

17. II:
stabilized areas – areas outside of agglomerations and
regional centres, areas which from the long term perspective
show no negative socio-economic characteristics
(unemployment, depopulation (out-migration), environmental
burdens, amenities)
III:
peripheral areas – geographically remote areas with long-
term accumulation of problems (border areas, mountain
areas, inner peripheries, or areas with specific issues

18. 29
DISPARITIES at the NATIONAL LEVEL
Consequences of transformation
 Significant decline in production & employment in heavy industries
(Moravia-Silesia, North West cohesion regions) - economically strong
regions (mining, heavy industry) grew more slowly than some regions
with lower economic performance
 Downfall of the textile, electrotechnical, clothing and footwear industries
(North East, Central Moravia, South East)
 A marked decline of employment in agriculture (South East and Central
Moravia cohesion regions) - more serious problem than economic
performance: regional disparities in unemployment
Other factors
 Tertiary sector concentrated predominantly in larger towns and and
agglomerations
 Inadequate development of SME´s, regional differences in innovative
potential
 Low inter-regional mobility of labour force
 Unsatisfactory situation of environment in some regions
 Quality of human resources and local governments
 Geographical position of the regions with respect to the EU and to the
transport corridors

19.  Regional disparities among regions are significant
 In terms of unemployment rate and economic development dynamics
 Increasing and significant regional disparities inside individual regions
 Tendencies for creating poles of growth (in economic centres)
 Forming regional centres rather than regional axes
 Weak and problem areas coming up – “inner peripheries” („second-rate“
economic areas inside well prospering regions, mainly along regional
borders)
 A successful (favorable) regional development of metropolitan areas can
conceal some problems in specific areas at lower level (when assessing
regional level)
 Regions with state aid
 Economic weak regions and regions with high unemployment rate lag
behind regional average (as to economic development)
REGIONAL DISPARITIES

20. 13
To promote economic growth the following strategies and
policies at the national level have been adopted
 Regional Development Strategy 2014 -2020 - the basic document
of the Czech regional policy – integrates sector and regional
approaches, and helps to fight growing territorial disparities
 Partnership Agreement 2014-2020 - the basic document of the EU
member state for receiving support from the Structural Funds and
Cohesion Fund
 National Reform Programme - reforms and measures of Member
State to make progress towards smart, sustainable and inclusive
growth (EU2020)
 Rural Development Plan (2014 -2020) - development of rural
areas on the base of sustainable development, improvement of
environment, diversification of economic activities oriented on job
creation and support to SMEs.

21. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
Ministry for Regional Development
of the Czech Republic