Results country programmes in EU-12 countries

Promoting renewable energy, creating employment and strengthening civil society: the final review of Switzerland's enlargement contribution summarises the results of the Swiss-backed projects.

Swiss Enlargement Contribution: Annual Report 2017

The ten countries that joined the EU in 2004 have completed their projects under the enlargement contribu-tion. SECO and the SDC have taken stock of the last decade and published the results in their 2017 annual report. The projects have made a significant contribution to reducing economic and social disparities in Europe. Switzerland was also able to use its expertise to make a meaningful contribution to a number of projects.

Czech republic: Small-scale environmental projects

A Swiss-backed fund supported 33 environmental projects put forward by different municipalities and organisations. For example, the town of Prachatice organised seminars and excursions on the theme of waste separation and composting. Another project breathed new life into the Negrelli Viaduct in Prague, inviting restaurants, shops and exhibitions to open under its arches.

The Swiss Enlargement Contribution

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs present an interim balance sheet on the first five years since the approval of the Enlargement Contribution to the new 10 EU-Member States. The projects are to be implemented within another five year period, i.e., by 2017.

EU enlargement contribution for the Czech Republic

Sciex-Scholarship-Fund

Partnership funds in the new EU member states

Czech republic: Small-scale environmental projects

A Swiss-backed fund supported 33 environmental projects put forward by different municipalities and organisations. For example, the town of Prachatice organised seminars and excursions on the theme of waste separation and composting. Another project breathed new life into the Negrelli Viaduct in Prague, inviting restaurants, shops and exhibitions to open under its arches.

Brochure Swiss-Czech Partnership Fund

Brochure on the Swiss-Czech Partnership Fund, that documents the major successes of the partnership fund, providing a general overview of the fund and presenting selected projects in a clear and detailed manner.

Boosting research in ten EU member states

Partnership fund in the Czech Republic

NGO fund in twelve EU member states

Partnership Fund - The 13rd call will be opened in September 2014

15.07.2014 – Press release

Czech Republic: New Tram Line for Olomouc

09.12.2013 – Article
On 29 November 2013, the city of Olomouc in the eastern part of the Czech Republic was scene to the festive inauguration of a new tram line financed by the Swiss Enlargement Contribution. Thanks to the new line, an urban district with 15,000 inhabitants was able to be connected to the city team network. In the future, it is estimated that one million public-transport passengers per year will be travelling along this new, 1.4 km-long tram-line stretch.

Official working visit by the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs, Karel Schwarzenberg

31.05.2013 – Press release
Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), received the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Karel Schwarzenberg, on 31 May 2013 for an official working visit to Bern. Their discussions focused on Switzerland's European policy, the Czech Republic's European Neighbourhood Policy, the Swiss contribution to the enlargement of the European Union, and economic relations between the two countries.

Switzerland

31.05.2013 – Press release
More than 200 projects are now being implemented as part of the enlargement contribution. At the annual conference of Swiss Cooperation with Eastern Europe on 31 May 2013 in Bern, government representatives and experts from Switzerland and abroad discussed the importance and the impact of these projects. About 750 people took part in the annual conference in the Hotel National, an exceptionally high turnout.

Swiss Expertise solicited in Czech winter-sports resorts

25.03.2013 – Article

Within the scope of a small project that unfolded in the frame of the Czech-Swiss Partnership Fund, the national branch-association Swiss Cableways (SBS) and the Czech Association for Transportation by Rope Asociace Ianové dopravy (ALDR), exchanged their know-how in the domains of training and marketing. The project, endowed with a budget of CHF 40,000, took place from January to December 2012.

Large tenders to be published in the coming months

19.10.2012 – Article

Switzerland and the EU-10 sign the final infrastructure projects in autumn 2012. As a result, major tenders will be published in the coming months.

Partnership project in the domain of sports

15.10.2012 – Article

The goal of the Partnership Fund is to support and expand institutional cooperation between Switzerland and the partner countries concerned. All told, over 150 small projects have been implemented in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. In the majority of cases, the focus is on projects in the environmental or social domains, but not always. For instance, a small project in the Czech Republic is fostering cooperation in the teaching of sport between an Aikido school in Langenthal and a gymnastics club.

Regional Development and Modernization of the Justice System in the Czech Republic

09.03.2012 – Article

Within the scope of the Swiss Enlargement Contribution to the Reduction of the Economic and Social Disparities in the enlarged European Union, a total of 10 projects for old-age-care homes have been granted funding totalling close to CHF 15 million. The enlargement contribution is also supporting two projects aimed at the modernization of the justice system. One of the projects is concerned with the successful reintegration of delinquents. In October 2011, Peter Künzle, a journalist at Swissinfo, paid a visit to the senior citizens home in Vsetin before going to Prague to get an idea for himself as to why it is so crucial for criminal offenders to be successfully reintegrated. The articles can be found below under the corresponding links.

Transfer of know-how between Switzerland and the Czech Republic in the area of non-motorised transport

17.07.2011 – Article

Drawing from the partnership fund established under the Swiss contribution to EU enlargement programme, a partnership project was launched by the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation and the SwitzerlandMobility Foundation to exchange experiences in the area of greenways and non-motorised transport for leisure and tourism.

Czech Republic: Environment Expertise Fund

21.04.2011 – Local news

A project agreement on environment was signed between Switzerland and the Czech Republic on 4 April 2011. Switzerland contributes one million Swiss francs to support activities in the field of environmental protection and sustainable development.

The Swiss contribution in brief

Information on Switzerland’s contribution to the enlarged EU: a brief presentation including project examples.

Czech Republic: Partnership fund