Visegrad Four on a Bumpy Road to Clean Recovery Targets

This article is part of a 5-part series which covers the V4 governments’ plans to utilise the Recovery and Resilience Facility funds earmarked by the EU for reinvigorating the economies from the lengthy economic hardships imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic. The limitations on the funding pose ideological quandaries for many of the governments in the region while strengthening the Union’s strategy to tackle climate change. Will the Visegrad Four governments make use of the monetary injection to speed up their transition to green technologies and digital transformation or will they fall short of the Union’s expectations?

The prospect of billions of euros from a new post-pandemic fund of the European Union has made even the most eurosceptic governments of the Visegrad Four eager to quickly devise national funding strategies.

Links to the other parts of this series:

• Part 2 on Slovakia available here.
• Part 3 on Czechia available here.
• Part 4 on Poland available here.
• Part 5 on Hungary available here.

But while Bratislava, Budapest and Warsaw have sent their initial plans to Brussels either on, or even before the deadline, (Prague is the only capital that keeps reworking its strategy), the contents of the documents show they are missing a strategic vision. The plans primarily serve the potential political gains of the current governments.