Slovenia is expected to send to the European Commission on Thursday key documents for securing billions in EU funds, Minister for Local Government and Regional Policy Ivan Zagar said in Brussels on Wednesday.
The programming documents for phasing EU funds in 2007-2013 need the approval of the cabinet, after which they will be sent to the EU, Zagar said.
The documents are the basis for the phasing of EUR 4bn in funds Slovenia is entitled to get in cohesion aid from the Union over the next seven years.
"The documents are mostly finalised, although we expect certain calls for revisions," said Zagar.
His comments come on the margins of conference of the Committee of the Regions entitled "Territorial Dialogue", which is focusing on the activities of regional and local authorities in helping the EU attain goals in the Lisbon Strategy.
Zagar added that potential recipients of funds had been asked to go about preparing projects for winning EU funds since the first tenders were expected to be published in April.
Since a part of the funds for this period is earmarked exclusively for local projects, municipalities will have to undertake extensive preparations.
"The bottom-up approach is something new for this period. But I firmly believe that the municipalities will be capable of building alliances in preparing projects," Zagar said.
Since Slovenia has had difficulties in phasing funds in the past, the Government Regional Policy office adopted measures to cut red tape and speed up the procedures for drawing funds.
Zagar also said that measures would be taken to improve awareness about tenders.
The aid Slovenia is entitled to will be divided among several fields that are expected to contribute most to economic growth, including modernisation of the railways and other transport infrastructure, enterprise and human resources.
Slovenia also plans to invest EUR 33m of the funds in infrastructure in the border region with Croatia that will be used in conjuction with cross-border programmes.
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