The European Commission won't suspend payments for Slovakia's Rural Development Program for the 2014-2020 programme period, stated the Agriculture Ministry's spokesman Vladimír Machalík. According to him, the way in which the programme has been implemented over the past few years has raised certain concerns among recipients and the European Commission. Brussels complained about an apparent lack of transparency in evaluating individual projects and the uneven drawing of funds in relation to the entire programme period. At the end of March 2016, as much as 85 percent of the total €1.2 billion set aside for 2014-20 had been allocated for individual calls, and the Commission began considering putting a halt to funding and the signing of contracts for new projects.
Slovakia reacted by introducing measures to fix the issues raised by the European Commission. For example, the Agriculture Payment Agency (PPA) will launch thorough checks on public procurement, the effectiveness of spending, payment requests and individual calls. Hundreds of projects that have already been contracted will thus be subject to inspection. Subsequently, the European Commission will carry out an audit at the agency in the autumn in order to see whether the promised measures have been introduced. It doesn't expect to announce further calls within the programme before 2017.
