Peter Stano, Head of the European Commission Representation in Slovakia says that the European Commission is monitoring Slovakia’s national park zoning reform while assessing the country’s eighth payment request under the Recovery and Resilience Plan. The dispute centres on the transfer of forest management from the state forestry company to national parks, with up to 450 million euros in EU funding potentially at stake.
State Secretary Filip Kuffa claims the Commission shares his concerns that government amendments have weakened the reform, while Environment Minister Tomáš Taraba rejects those claims, insisting the zoning fully complies with EU requirements. The government has signed a memorandum between the environment and agriculture ministries to clarify the transfer of land management, but opposition parties and environmental organisations argue the document is not legally binding and are calling for the disputed government resolutions to be amended or withdrawn.
Source: TASR, STVR
