EU GRANTS SLOVAKIA 2007-2013
In past periode of 2007-2013 a total EU grant size of € 11,5 billion was allocated to Slovakia. However its government was forced to ask for a prolongation of this period by 2 years, due to its delay in spending this entire grant size. Until now it is still unclear if Slovakia has spent all its allocated financial means.
The Slovak Vice Prime Minister of Investments expects that Slovakia will spend 92 percent of its total EU grant. This inability to spend available EU grants has triggered criticism. Various sources within the opposition expect Slovakia will miss about € 1 billion of EU grants. This is not only caused by the slow speed of realising projects, but also due to the ineffective allocation of means and the numerous errors that were made. A clear picture will available once the Ministry of Finance finishes the audit process and when the European Commission accepts this report.
DELAY EU GRANTS SLOVAKIA
Prime Minister Robert Fico led Slovakia for most of the 2007-2013 grant period. Amongst other, his government changed existing projects, which has caused delays in EU grants.
Slovakia has been among the weaker drawers of EU funds over the long run. Therefore the country was allowed to prolong its previous granting period by 2 years. At the end of 2013 Slovakia merely spent 60 percent of its available EU grants.
NEW EU GRANTS SLOVAKIA: SAME PROBLEM
For the next granting period of 2014-2020 again a limited spending of available grants is expected, due to the fact the company has been allocating its previous budget to projects the past 2 years.
In addition a slower spending of budgets within projects is expected for the EU grant period of 2014-2020. Experts claim Slovakia’s procedures are too bureaucratic and lack transparency. In addition independent monitoring also lacks and which makes it unclear how effectively EU grants have been allocated. An analyst notes that while millions of euros are spent on promotion if EU grants, no money is allocated for independent monitoring.
