Regional sectoral structure of the support realised through the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation 2007–2013

Abstract

Abstract Within the previous programming period, the Operational Programme Enterprise and Innovation represented the main tool of the EU cohesion policy in the Czech Republic for the support of businesses in manufacturing and related services. The article analyses sectoral structure of realised projects and financial subsidy allocated through the programme at the level of Czech regions. A significant part of branches strongly represented by realised projects in particular regions belongs at the same time to branches considerably concentrated within the same regions. Nevertheless, besides these regionally traditional branches of manufacturing industry and related services, a number of other branches were identified with an above-average representation on projects or financial subsidy within particular regions. In the last part of the text, results of the sectoral structure analysis are looked at from the perspective of smart specialisation areas which form a binding support framework for the area of entrepreneurship, innovation and research in the current programming period. Certain continuity in the importance for regional economies can be noticed in the case of many traditional regional industries - their position strengthened by the investment in the last programming period has been confirmed by inclusion of these branches into the list of smart specialisation areas for the current programming period.