Background information

The Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic, Ministerstvo dopravy České republiky, MD ČR opened 26 October 2020 a COVID-Bus programme, which supported businesses in irregular bus transportation.

The total allocation of the programme was CZK 1 billion (€36.7 million) and covered the period from 12 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 (111 days).

Content of measure

Eligible for the support were businesses (both natural or legal persons) in irregular bus transport sector (e. g. those which provide tours or transport of children to school trips, international bus transport for travel agencies etc.) which lost a considerable part of their income due to the government anti-COVID-19 measures in the first half of 2020.

The total amount of the support depended on the vehicles - on the number of their seats and on how environmentally-friendly they are (according to the European emission standards). The seat in a vehicle with the lowest European emission standard EURO 2 was supported by CZK 15 (€0.6) per day in the eligible period and the seat in a vehicle with the highest European emission standard EURO 6 was supported by CZK 135 (€5).

Use of measure

As of 18 December 2020, according to the Ministry of Transport of the Czech Republic (see source), 3,486 vehicles of 1,027 applications were approved in total (out of the total of 1,054 applications) with the total amount of CZK 932.5 million (€34.5 million).

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Informed	Informed
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Sectoral or branch level

Involvement

Social partners, which are members of the tripartite body (Council of economic and social agreement, Rada hospodářské a sociální dohody, RHSD) were informed and consulted in both formal (requested by institutional settings) and informal ways. They are not involved in the management of policy measures.

Views and reactions

Supportive.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 20 October 2020: MD ČR: COVID-Bus call/MD ČR: COVID-Bus výzva (www.mdcr.cz)
• 20 October 2020: MD ČR: COVID-Bus conditions/MD ČR: COVID-Bus podmínky (www.mdcr.cz)
• 18 December 2020: MD ČR: Number of supported applicants in COVID-Bus/MD ČR: Počet podpořených v COVID-Bus (www.mdcr.cz)