The European Commission is aware of the situation in Slovakia, where a decision has been taken to establish only one wind energy acceleration zone instead of eight, with Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Hlas-SD) clarifying in Brussels on Wednesday that Slovakia has done what it agreed with the European Commission to do under the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
Following Wednesday's expert talks with representatives of the executive bodies of the EU, Drucker confirmed that the European Commission is aware of the situation and that it was discussed.
"I repeat that we have done what was agreed we should do. We mapped the territory. It went through the proper procedures. At the same time, however, we also have legislation that was part of these reforms, which gives local authorities the final say, the final decision on whether something will be built or not. I do not think there is any dispute over this," the minister explained.
The original eight acceleration zones could have enabled Slovakia to generate 1,449 megawatts (MW) of electricity through a total of 207 wind turbines.
Drucker pointed out that the Slovak government had discussed the issue with representatives of the Zemplin region, as well as mayors, and that local authorities are to have the final say.
"But these are our commitments, commitments made by the previous government, to map the territory of Slovakia and assess whether its territory is suitable for this type of energy production. It is turning out that it's not. Regardless of whether someone in the future — not the state, but a private investor — wants to build something, the decision on whether or not something is built there rests solely with the local self-government," he underlined.
According to Drucker, Slovakia is not at risk of losing millions of euros. "We have fulfilled what we said we would do. The European Commission will, of course, look at whether the legislative changes and the entire process correspond to what we agreed. But for now, I repeat, no doubts have been raised in this regard," he said, describing the talks in Brussels.
Drucker emphasised that any agreements with Brussels must be respected, but also said that Slovakia has its own political priorities and, as long as these do not conflict with its agreements, he sees no reason to "go the extra mile".
"We have clearly said that we will do what we have to do, but we will not go the extra mile. The current government's view of energy is different. In terms of the energy mix, we want to build a new nuclear power source. We have also committed to renewable energy sources, but we see other renewable sources that we prefer, such as geothermal energy. In this respect, no one can force us to decide how we'll go about it," Drucker said.
Source: TASR
