Slovakia has not managed to spend some €6 billion of the EU help earmarked for Bratislava from the final budgetary interval of 2014-2020, making it one of many worst-performing member states within the bloc.
Slovakia absorbed solely €1.87 billion in 2021 and €2.2 billion in 2022 on high of funds not spent in different years. In terms of cash already spent, Slovakia is the third worst among the many EU member states.
When Veronika Remišová took over as investments and regional improvement minister, she vowed to take away a few of the bureaucratic obstacles and thus make the absorption extra environment friendly. In 2020, she offered a plan to soak up €2.9 billion in 2021 and €3.4 billion in 2022.
The issue is that Remišová and her ministry haven’t any actual leverage to pressure different ministries to spend extra successfully one thing she vowed to alter within the new programming interval 2021-2027.
The federal government centered on transferring the cash from EU funds to disaster mitigation in current months, however EU Fee didn’t enable Slovakia to switch as a lot as Remišová needed to.
This yr, the Ministry of Investments and Regional Growth managed to conclude negotiations with the Fee on the foundations for the brand new EU funds. The primary change might be simplification – as an alternative of ten managing authorities, solely the Funding Ministry will lead the system.
That is, nonetheless, not welcomed within the municipalities, which name for extra authority within the EU funds absorption.
In the meantime, Slovakia already began with the absorption of the brand new programming interval. First calls from the just about €13 billion bundle will go to the event of colleges, sports activities centres, roads and insulation of homes and house blocks.
Remišová introduced that she desires to rapidly help the initiatives from the Simply Transition Funds, which goals to help the areas depending on fossil fuels, such because the coal-mining area Higher Nitra, the place mining will cease by the tip of this yr.
(Michal Hudec | EURACTIV.sk)
