The future of Cohesion Policy in the period 2014–2020
The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, in the role of the Managing Authority for the EU structural funds and the Cohesion Fund, and the European Commission organised an event on the future of Cohesion Policy in the period 2014–2020. The latter is grounded on the legislative package for the funds of the Common Strategic Framework for the period 2014–2020 which will define the rules and orientation for the use of the EU funds after 2013. Slovenia welcomes the legislative package as it underlines growth and employment and represents an upgrade of the existing system which is estimated by Slovenia as successful.
On behalf of the European Commission David Sweet from the Directorate General for Regional Policy, and Jader Cane from the Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion spoke about the Future of Cohesion Policy. On behalf of the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, Matija Vilfan, Acting Director General of the EU Cohesion Policy Directorate, said that the negotiations on the future of Cohesion Policy after 2013 are well under way and that Slovenia supports the efforts of the Danish Presidency to reach by the end of June a partial agreement on the essential elements of Cohesion Policy regulations which are crucial for the preparation of the programming documents.
In terms of content of the legislative proposal Vilfan underlined that we can be satisfied as Slovenia has so far been successful in the enforcement of the key proposals – there are 39 proposals altogether. Vilfan is convinced that the proposals will reduce the administrative burdens, increase the efficiency of programme implementation and allow greater consideration of previous good practices in the Member States. However, the negotiation process is far from complete. In addition, the task before Slovenia is to choose a development vision and set concrete goals and to consider where Slovenia wants to invest the future EU funds. This is so much more important because the EU funds represent the majority of development funds available to Slovenia in the future. Both the European Commission and the Member States should first ensure a timely completion of the negotiations regarding the legislative package, which is the prerequisite for the timely implementation of projects in the next period, underlined Vilfan.
