CR should push for preserving money for cohesion policy -- NERV Prague, Jan 2 (CTK) - The Czech Republic should in the EU push for preserving money for the cohesion policy, the Czech government's National Economic Council (NERV) said today after discussing a document dealing with the EU's budget framework for 2014 to 2020. NERV proposed the Czech Republic's interests in the individual areas during the discussion. The main aim of the cohesion policy is to reduce economic and social disparities in European regions. "Preserving money for cohesion policy is definitely advantageous for a country of our type," NERV said. The Czech Republic, which accounts for nearly 2 percent of the EU's gross domestic product (GDP), now receives almost 8 percent of all the resources as part of cohesion policy. The proposal of the new budget framework would enable the Czech Republic to maintain this position for another period, according to NERV. The cohesion policy applies to around one-third of the EU's budget in the current budget period from 2007 to 2013. The money is usually redistributed through structural funds. Only the so-called less-favoured regions, such as rural areas or problem urban areas, are entitled to claim money from structural funds. The aid can be received by a region whose gross domestic product per head is below 75 percent of the EU average. In the current budget period, all regions in the Czech Republic except Prague meet this criterion. NERV also said the use of the money for cohesion policy should be subject to stricter rules in terms of effectiveness and sustainability. In contrast, the proposals of new EU funds for infrastructure, energy and information and communication technologies are disadvantageous for the Czech Republic as they will narrow the possibility to obtain this money and make it more difficult. NERV is against innovations on the revenues side, that is against the introduction of the tax on financial transactions, special turnover tax and environmental tax. "With regard to the fact that the reasons for imposing these taxes (above all the tax on financial transactions) either do not exist in the Czech Republic, or are not essential, raising tax burden in this way is unacceptable from our point of view," NERV said. The shape of the EU's draft multiannual financial framework for 2014 to 2020 is significantly influenced by the financial and economic crisis, according to the council. "The bad news is that some EU member states have through a debt trajectory created such a large debt which exceeds their economic capabilities so much that it is not possible to resolve this problem in a short period under a normal economic and social course of development," Petr Zahradnik of NERV said. kou/er 