Suchergebnisse

In March 2020 the European Commission adopted exceptional state aid rules in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak caused by coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Its goal is to enable member states to support their economy using aid measures, which under current state aid rules are either not possible to be issued at all or only after time consuming notification procedures. This so-called Temporary Framework1 is being presented as a significant tool with several possibilities such as aid for research and development projects and research infrastructures. Since its adoption, dozens of measures across the whole European Union have been notified, using different sections of the Temporary Framework according to their focus. This article is concerned with the practical use and impact of such sections regarding R&D aid, with the underlying questions as to what extent the presentation of the Temporary Framework is justified.

The article aims to identify the development phases in the process of the regional differentiation in the Czech Republic after 1989, & examines whether this differentiation trend is currently changing. The assumption the article's hypothesis is based on is that during recent development the basic 'parameters' of the principal features of the country's regional structure have been stabilized amidst the conditions of parliamentary democracy & a market economy. Unlike the first phases of socio- economic transition, when differentiating trends prevailed, a certain degree of stabilization can now be assumed, alongside the emergence of new trends. The development of regional differences was analyzed using indicators of GDP, the unemployment rate, entrepreneurial activity, & tax revenue from self- employed physical persons. The findings show that over the course of the 1990s regional differences intensified at both the mezo- regional (regional) level & the micro- regional level. It was also confirmed that at the turn of the millennium the phase of divergent regional development ended, & since that time regional differences have hovered around the same level.