Migaľ: The revision of EU funds is progressing well, Brussels does not reject energy price compensations

Brussels – Work on the revision of EU funds is progressing very well and could be completed even before the deadline set by the government in mid-June. The European Commission (EC) does not object to the idea of using part of these funds for energy price compensation; the final position will depend on how precisely the aid mechanism is set up. This was stated on Wednesday in Brussels by the Minister of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, Samuel Migaľ (independent), after a meeting with the EC’s Executive Vice-President for Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, TASR reports.

“The EU Commissioner has already been informed about the issue and did not object to it. He stated that it is only a matter of how we process it and how we set the conditions so that within this revision, the funds can also be used for targeted assistance, for gas price compensation,” Migaľ said, adding that a series of discussions on this topic should be expected.

He added that the good news is that Fitto did not reject such a matter and that discussions are ongoing. He did not want to specify the amount of funds needed for such assistance. The sum may change over time and could amount to hundreds of millions of euros.

The main topic of Wednesday’s meeting was the planned revision of part of the EU funds to be redirected to new priorities so that Slovakia does not lose them. This concerns a package of nearly 1.3 billion euros, which the government temporarily blocked in mid-June. According to Migaľ, the EU Commissioner did not object to the fact that part of the funds intended for local government is also included in this freeze.

“This revision is progressing very continuously, and I believe that as we committed ourselves by resolution at the government, we may fulfill the obligations we set for ourselves even before the deadline,” the minister assessed.

As part of the revision, it is important to redirect EU funds to five current priorities set by the European Commission (EC). These include dual use of funds for defense and civilian purposes, increasing competitiveness, water retention measures, energy transformation, and building affordable housing. According to Migaľ, Slovakia is already currently applying many of these priorities, which are also a priority for the Slovak government and the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization.

One of the specific proposals submitted to the EC was to count the investment in the construction of the D3 highway as already realized within the EU funds. This technical step would reduce the volume of formally unspent funds and open the way to release 200 million euros that were temporarily frozen due to slow absorption. “We are in intense contact with the Ministry of Transport and are doing everything we can to account for this large investment in the revision. Because in that case, it would be good news for the regions, as we could unblock 200 million euros for them,” Migaľ explained. (July 2)