SAO audit: money for publicity and promotion contributed to increased public awareness of EU funds
PRESS RELEASE ON AUDIT NO 24/05 – 24 March 2025
European programmes and projects, for which the Czech Republic also draws considerable sums from European funds, must also be well promoted. The point is to make potential applicants and beneficiaries of subsidies aware of them and, subsequently, to make the results known to the general public. And it is precisely the funds of almost CZK 650 million on publicity and promotion of selected operational programmes from the period 2014 to 2020 that the Supreme Audit Office (SAO) audit was focused on. It audited 27 out of 59 projects and the audited amount of money reached CZK 360 million. The Ministry of Regional Development (MoRD) and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) were responsible for the management of the funds. The auditors concluded that the expenditure on promotion and publicity was spent effectively and that the used funds had an impact on the knowledge of the supported projects, the level of information and awareness of the general public about EU funds. In the audited entities, which in addition to the MoRD and the MoIT were also the Business and Innovation Agency and the Centre for Regional Development of the Czech Republic, the SAO did not find any breach of the rules set for the use of these funds.
Deficiencies were found in public contracts. During the audit of the Integrated Regional Operational Programme (IROP), the auditors found that in half of the cases, contracts for the purchase of promotional items were carried out on the basis of a single tender, that contracts for photographic services ranging from simple orders to above-the-threshold tender procedures always had the same winner or that the same tenderers were competing - out of a sample of 34 tenders, 20 contracts were carried out by five suppliers.
MoRD spent a total of CZK 130 million on promotion and publicity of IROP, which was 72% of the planned expenditure. The MoIT spent CZK 25 million on promotion and publicity of the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation for Competitiveness (OP EIC), i.e. 16% of the approved funds. As the audit showed, the low spending rate corresponded to the European Commission's requirement to minimise the outsourcing of communication measures. However, the spending of planned budgets was mainly affected by the pandemic measures in 2020-2021, when e.g. open days were cancelled and seminars and conferences were moved to an online environment.
The MoRD and the MoIT spent comparable expenditure of approx. CZK 15 million on direct communication, i.e. on conferences, fairs, seminars or events for the general public, as well as on publication activities in the form of printed magazines, publications, leaflets or posters.
Significant differences were found in all other areas. For example, the MoRD, as the Managing Authority of IROP, spent CZK 64.5 million on advertising. This was approximately 18 times more than the MoIT spent on OP EIC (CZK 3.5 million). Most of it was used for media campaigns, for which the MoIT spent CZK 3 million and the MoRD spent CZK 51 million. The auditors verified that compared to the MoIT, the MoRD carried out extensive media campaigns under IROP. For example, in 2019, campaigns were run on TV, radio, cinemas and online space for a total of CZK 38.7 million on the topics of "insulation" and "monuments". In 2020-2023, promotional activities were dedicated to the IROP Financial Instrument for energy modernisation and energy savings in residential buildings in Prague. Expenditure amounted to CZK 2.4 million. The MoRD also financed a campaign for CZK 7.4 million on the promotion of the investment instrument designed to help in the recovery from the crisis related to the pandemic of COVID-19.
Communication Department
Supreme Audit Office