Slovakia will see a reduction in EU Coherence Policy and Regional Development funds after Brexit, as Britain is currently a net contributor to it, wrote the TASR press agency on Sunday. According to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Investments and Informatisation, Slovakia's financial envelope for the EU Coherence Policy in 2021-2027 should drop by 10 percent from €14.8 billion to €13.3 billion in current prices. "However, Slovakia still remains the country with the second highest intensity of assistance per capita in the EU (following Estonia)," stated the office's press department.
In addition to the reduction of funds for the EU Coherence Policy and Regional Development, the Office sees a problem in the reduction of money for the EU Cohesion Fund, particularly by 37% in current prices. "The EU Cohesion Fund is only destined for 15 EU member countries, including Slovakia, whose GDP is lower than 90% of the EU average. Thus, its considerable reduction will have a disproportionately high impact on the least developed countries the Coherence Policy," predicts the office.
According to the Finance Ministry, it is impossible to rule out "the risk of a limited increase" in Slovakia's transfers to the EU budget in 2019 and 2020. "Brexit will mean the departure of a significant contributor to the common budget from the EU. However, the Finance Ministry is preparing for that risk and the European Commission's current endeavour for a partial agreement with Britain in the budgetary field might significantly reduce this risk," said the ministry.
A form of Brexit (with or without an agreement) has no influence on the prediction of Slovakia's transfers to the EU budget in the long term, as the Finance Ministry no longer counts on Britain's contributions to the EU budget after 2020.
