The Czech Republic’s 2022–2024 action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... includes promising commitments aimed at facilitating public oversight of small-scale public contracting as well as enhancing the transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More of state grants. Several public institutions participated in the co-creation processCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders (e.g., citizens, academics, private sector) is at the heart of the OGP process. Participating governments must ensure that a dive... for the first time. High-level political input further increased the ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... of the action plan.

The Czech Republic’s 2022–2024 action plan contains eight commitments, including some that cover new policy areas such as public procurement, strategic planning, and beneficial ownership.[1] Four policy areas are transferred from the previous action plan. The commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... on whistleblower protection was carried over as it was not fully implemented by the end of the previous action plan period. The commitment on open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... in educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ... has a new timeline for reform. The commitments on public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... and state grants transparency constitute steps forward in furthering open government in relevant policy areas.

Commitments 6 and 7 in this new action plan are assessed as promising. Commitment 6 envisages the implementation of transparency guidelines to support public oversight of small-scale procurement contracts and has modest potential for results. Civil society representatives said the commitment is ambitious but, if implemented as promised, has the potential to impact state grants transparency substantially.[2] Commitment 7 has substantial potential for results and continues the efforts started in the 2020–2022 action plan to enhance the transparency of state grants by improving the existing information system. Civil society said that a uniform data format could significantly enhance transparency and public control over the distribution and use of state finances.[3]

More stakeholders were involved in the co-creation of this action plan compared to previous cycles. Two new ministries joined the OGP process and the action plan lists civil society organisations (CSOs) as co-implementing agencies for the first time. The action plan addresses recommendations from previous IRM reports to expand the scope of policy areas and involve more stakeholders. Between March and December 2022, the co-creation process included a public workshop where anyone could propose commitments, a government-wide crowdsourcing of commitment ideas, an online public consultation of the draft plan, and opportunities for non-members to participate in multistakeholder forum (MSF) meetings. Before the government’s final approval, the action plan was sent back to consultation to improve and increase the ambition of the commitments upon the initiative of Jakub Michálek, a member of parliament (MP) of the Czech Pirate Party. The draft action plan was subsequently discussed at two meetings of the Government Council for the Coordination of the Fight against Corruption and three new commitments were added.[4]

Government and civil society representatives expressed satisfaction with the final shape of the action plan. Half of the 8 commitments included were based on civil society’s proposals.[5] Furthermore, civil society felt the addition of three new commitments in the later stage (Commitments 5 and 6 on public procurement and Commitment 8 on beneficial ownership data) substantially improved the ambition level of the action plan.[6] CSOs in particular endorsed the engagement of the Ministry of Regional Development given its strong political leadership, which increases the potential of the two commitments on public procurement to have more successful implementation.[7] Government officials expressed similar appreciation, noting the action plan’s quality, number of commitments, inclusion of new policy areas, and diversity of stakeholders participating in the co-creation process.[8]

While government and civil society representatives felt that the action plan is more ambitious than prior ones, three commitments on whistleblowing, public participation, and open data in education are included because they had not been implemented in time in the previous cycle for various reasons. As such, there is room in these policy areas to use the additional time to go beyond what was planned in the previous action plan. For example, Commitment 2 on whistleblower protection could focus on activities that would follow the adoption of the Whistleblower Protection Act, such as methodological support in the development of reporting mechanisms, training of persons responsible to respond to whistleblower reports, and/or gathering data on the number of reported cases and the impact of the new legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... on whistleblower protection. Commitment 8 on beneficial ownership covers only a mapping exercise. The rest of the implementation period could be used for taking targeted steps towards improving the quality and accuracy of data in the beneficial ownership register and strengthening enforcement mechanisms at the registry courts. The government could also benefit from the work already done in this area by CSOs and actively engage them in the preparation of analytical materials. Building on these initial activities, future action plans could include more ambitious commitments on beneficial ownership.

Commitment 7 on state grants transparency is an example of taking gradual approach towards new policy areas. In the previous action plan, stakeholders discussed the possibility of the redesigned grant database. The negotiations then led to the inclusion of a more ambitious commitment in the new action plan.[9] Civil society representatives perceive it positively because it could simplify work for watchdog organisations that monitor grant recipients.[10]

Section II: Promising Commitments in Czech Republic 2022-2024 Action Plan

The following review looks at two commitments that the IRM identified as having the potential to realise the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] The Czech Republic submitted its action plan with start and end dates in 2023–2024. However, it was submitted to OGP in December 2022 and is therefore referenced in this report as the 2022–2024 action plan.

[2] František Kučera (Anti-Corruption Unit of the Ministry of JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi...), interview by IRM researcher, 5 May 2023; Jan Dupák (Transparency International Czech Republic), interview by IRM researcher, 9 May 2023.

[3] Dupák, interview.

[4] “Meeting minutes of 14 November and 12 December 2022,” Government Council for the Coordination of the Fight against Corruption (2022), https://korupce.cz/rada-vlady/zaznamy-z-jednani/?a=rada-vlady.

[5] Kučera, interview; Dupák, interview.

[6] Dupák, interview; Marek Zelenka (Oživení), interview by IRM researcher, 10 May 2023; Lukáš Kraus (Frank Bold/Rekonstrukce Státu), interview by IRM researcher, 10 May 2023.

[7] Dupák, interview.

[8] František Kučera & Johana Trešlová (Anti-Corruption Unit of the Ministry of Justice), interview by IRM researcher, 5 May 2023.

[9] Kučera, interview.

[10] Dupák, interview; Kraus, interview.