Slovenia's response to European Commission suspension of payments under the European Cohesion Policy
Ljubljana, 7 March 2014 – On 6 March 2014 the European Commission notified Slovenia on the suspension of payments under the European Cohesion Policy, namely in the framework of the Operational Programme for Development of the Environmental and Transport Infrastructure for the period 2007-2013 (OP DETI) and the Operational Programme for Strengthening Regional Development Potentials for the period 2007-2013 (OP SRDP). According to the European Commission, the suspension is a result of the establish irregularities which pertain to 2012. In the response, which was sent today to the European Commission, the national Managing Authority and the Auditing Authority for the implementation of the European Cohesion Policy (namely the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy and the Budget Supervision Office of the Ministry of Finance) expressed their surprise regarding the decision which was made on the basis of the European Commission Audit Report. Slovenia was, indeed, not given the chance to present its position or verify the findings of the European Commission Audit Report.
The European Commission based its decision on the findings of the draft European Commission Audit Report which Slovenia received on 20 January 2014. The European Commission audited the projects which were already audited by the Slovenian national Auditing Authority, the Budget Supervision Office of the Ministry of Finance. These are individual projects under the Operational Programme for Development of the Environmental and Transport Infrastructure and the Operational Programme for Strengthening Regional Development Potentials (i.e. projects co-financed under the Cohesion Fund and the European Regional Development Fund), namely for the expenditures declared to the European Commission in 2012.
The draft Audit Report states that the European Commission expects a response from the Slovenian national authorities within two months of receiving the translation of the Audit Report into the Slovenian language. The translation has not yet been submitted to the Budget Supervision Office. The European Commission, nevertheless, suspended payments for four interim payment claims, which were received in December 2013 (on the basis of the provisions of Article 91 of Council Regulation No. 1083/2006) in the amount of 185 million euros.
Slovenia was thus not given the chance to present its position or verify the findings of the draft European Commission Audit Report. In the response, which was sent today to the European Commission, the Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (the Managing Authority) and the Budget Supervision Office of the Ministry of Finance (Auditing Authority) expressed their surprise regarding the decision which represents a precedence in the otherwise well-established cooperation with the European Commission.
This puts Slovenia in a position of having to implement corrective measures, namely upon the requirement set by the European Commission, which pertain to the findings of the draft Audit Report, as well as carry out control over the implementation of measures, prepare a report and provide an auditor’s opinion on the measures. The European Commission expects the Budget Supervision Office to prepare within two months of receiving the European Commission Audit Report a response in the Slovenian language which will define its (dis)agreement or provide comments regarding the findings.
The European Commission letter on the suspension of payments leads to the conclusion that this is indeed the Audit Report proper and not just a draft. In case of the later the auditee has the right to present its position. Therefore, Slovenia disagreed with European Commission decision and underlines that the Auditing Authority does not agree with some of the findings and the proposed measures. If the European Commission believes that the findings of the draft report cannot be disputed and are, indeed, final (without the opportunity for the Member State to verify the findings), Slovenia sees no point for the European Commission to submit to the Slovenian Auditing Authority also the translation of the draft and to expect the Auditing Authority to provide a response within two months. Slovenia asked the European Commission to wait for the closure of the procedures, related to its Audit Report, as only the final European Commission Audit Report and its findings may represent the basis for the suspension of payments and the implementation of corrective measures.
Slovenia also asked the European Commission to reconsider its decision as the suspension of payments (the latter are, indeed, behind European Commission deadline) represents a real threat to liquidity which will result in the disability to meet the contractual obligations of the Member States to the beneficiaries of the European Cohesion Policy funds.
