Our joint statement should serve as a base for negotiation with the European Commission about the future rules for drawing EU funds, it demonstrates our unity and strength, Slovakian Vice-premier for Investments and Informatization Richard Raši said recently.
Even though Romania and Slovenia were represented in Bratislava, they didn’t join the joint statement. As highlighted by Raši, Romania didn’t participate due to its upcoming European Council presidency while Slovenia omitted because its representative lacked the respective mandate. The Czech Republic was represented by Regional Development Minister Klára Dostálová.
Representatives of the six agreed they would welcome a recent timetable for utilizing EU funds to be preserved. Therefore, it would be possible to draw from EU funds for an additional three years once the programming period ends. Signatory countries also rejected a proposed shortening of this period to two years and a proposal for an increase of member states’ co-funding.
Commissioner Cretu didn’t exclude the possibility of adjusting the multiannual financial framework proposal. However, simplified conditions for drawing EU funds are already included in it, she added.
