European funds have been suspended because local authorities haven't been drawing them, Premier Robert Fico (Smer-SD) stated on Tuesday in response to last week's government decision to suspend €200 million in EU funds.
"We're very interested in providing financial resources to local authorities, including at the local and regional levels, but provided that the money is actually spent," stated the Prime Minister.
"The problem is that local authorities aren't drawing financial resources and we can't afford to let that money go to waste," he stressed.
The government decided on June 18th to temporarily block 100 percent flexibility for ministries in the use of EU funds. For local governments, it is a 50-percent blockage. Under this measure, the government will temporarily block €1.26 billion in EU funds. According to the Investments Ministry, if the money isn't reallocated, it could be lost. The Investments Ministry said that the reason for taking the measure is the low rate of absorption of EU funds.
Local authorities consider the decision to block part of the EU funds to be unfair. They also rejected criticism of the slow absorption of funds, identifying the problem as the delay in the preparation of the programming period, preferentially announced demand-oriented calls and long checks. The opposition also criticised the government's decision.
According to PS leader Michal Šimečka, the state is giving senseless bureaucratic hurdles to local authorities. He pointed out that local authorities view freezing of EU funds for them as the state's failure.
According to Trnava Self-governing region governor Jozef Viskupič, drawing of EU funds shouldn't be the subject of a political battle. "The local authority is 'working hard' and clearly deserves a correct partnership approach. It would be good if EU funds, which result directly from municipal or regional priorities were actually implemented, financed and, most importantly, if there was stability in financing. Changing the rules and taking money away from local government is simply unacceptable," said Viskupič.
Source: TASR
