Bratislava – Municipalities are moderately prepared to access EU funds, with their approved project intentions at 56% and contracting around 12%. This statement was made on Monday by Samuel Migaľ, the Minister of Investments of the Slovak Republic (independent), in response to municipalities’ criticism about the freezing of a portion of the EU funds approved by the government on June 18. He urged the regions to “cry less and work more,” as reported by TASR.
“Municipalities currently have approved project intentions at 56% and applications for non-repayable financial assistance at 32%. Contracting levels for Slovak higher territorial units and municipalities stand at 12%. The situation regarding drawing is so dire that I won’t even mention it,” Migaľ stated on Monday.
He noted that despite presenting information on the status of EU fund drawing at the last government meeting—indicating that the revision of EU funds and the subsequent blocking of financial resources for the regions would not be affected—he ultimately agreed to involve municipalities in this revision due to pressure from his colleagues. Initially, only ministries were expected to participate in the revision of EU funds.
“Thus, I decided to agree and said let’s all contribute to this effort. However, my primary focus is to ensure that once we reassess the funds everyone has to contribute to, that money reaches the regions,” the minister emphasized.
Migaľ clarified that EU funds are not being removed from municipalities; the mentioned sum of 200 million euros is merely blocked. He stated that if municipalities enhance their readiness for drawing EU funds and improve contracting processes, the blocked funds will be returned to them.
The government decided on Wednesday to temporarily block 100% flexibility for ministries in accessing EU funds, while municipalities face a 50% blockage. This measure will temporarily halt 1.26 billion euros from EU funds. According to the Ministry of Investments, without redistribution, there is a risk of losing these funds, and the measure was prompted by the low rate of EU fund drawing.
Municipalities view the decision to block part of the EU funds as unjust and push back against criticism regarding their slow fund drawing. They identify the issues as stemming from delays in preparing the programming period, lengthy checks, and priority calls announced based on demand. The opposition has also criticized the government’s decision. (June 23)
“Municipalities have approved project intentions at 56%, applications for non-repayable financial assistance stand at 32%. Contracting for Slovak higher territorial units and municipalities is at 12%. I won’t even discuss drawing, as it is absolutely catastrophic.” Samuel Migaľ.
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