R&D expenditure and thematic orientation of European investment in selected new EU member states / Výdaje na výzkum a vývoj a tematické zaměření evropských investic ve vybraných nových členských státech EU

During the programming period 2007-2013, the Structural Funds represented an important source of funds for research, development and innovation in the new member states of the EU. The article compares thematic focus of the EU Structural Funds support to this area (according to the categories of expenditure set by the EU legislation) in five countries with common historic experience - Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The aim is to identify different approaches of individual states to finance research and innovation from the EU funds, also related to the development and structure of R&D expenditure, analysed in the first part of the text. The states in question have selected diverse strategies to invest European resources in research and innovation, particularly concerning the proportion of investment in research infrastructures to investment in research, innovation and related activities in business sphere. According to this comparison with the other examined countries, the Czech Republic is characterized by the highest orientation at spending the EU funds on the construction of research infrastructure.