The amount of money Slovakia will receive as part of the European Union's cohesion policy in the next 2021-2027 period should be lower, as the country has been successful, has the lowest unemployment rate ever and is approaching 90 percent of the average of the European standard of living, European Commission Vice-president for Energy Union Maroš Šefcovič said along with the Deputy Prime Minister Richard Raši at a press briefing in Bratislava on Thursday.
Šefcovič further said that the new EU budget would have a completely different structure because of the United Kingdom's departure from the EU and the new priorities agreed upon by leaders during the Bratislava summit, including the fight against terrorism, a better exchange of security information and priorities targeted at young people. "So far there have been two major chapters, one for cohesion, the other for the common agricultural policy, which accounted for more than 80 percent of the budget, now the budget is roughly divided into thirds. One third for the cohesion policy, one third for farmers and one third to support these new policies," said the EC vice-president.
Šefcovič also stated that direct payments within agriculture would be given in the future only to active farmers and that direct payments would be tied to the result of their production. They should not be paid only on the basis of somebody owning land.
Raši stated that Slovakia's priority for the cohesion policy and drawing of EU funds was for them to continue during the next programming period. "The first proposal, in my view, is a clear and positive signal," he stressed, adding that there was a discussion about whether the EU's draft multiannual financial framework would include cohesion policy at all, and equalising regional differences. Another priority for Slovakia, according to Raši, was that for there to be a greater opportunity to transfer funds flexibly, precisely and according to national needs.
