The European Commission approved in Brussels on Tuesday the Slovenian National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF), which defines the country's priorities in the area of regional development in the 2007-2013 period that will see Slovenia receiving EUR 4.1bn from the bloc's cohesion funds.
Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Huebner said she was very happy that the Slovenian NSRF included a significant commitment to the Lisbon strategy for jobs and growth.
"At least 65% of the investments for the 'Convergence' objective have been earmarked for Lisbon-related expenditure", added Huebner.
The commissioner is confident that the competitiveness of the Slovenian regions can be improved through this new generation of cohesion programmes.
Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla added that "Slovenian strategy contains a strong commitment to promoting the quality and intensity of investments in human resources".
According to Spidla, Slovenia has chosen the priorities with which workers will be able to better adapt to changing circumstances. "The strategy will also boost employment and promote social inclusion," he added.
Slovenia's strategic priorities set out in the NSRF include promoting entrepreneurship, innovation and technological development, improving labour market flexibility, ensuring conditions for growth by providing sustainable mobility, and promoting a balanced regional development.
Emphasis will also be given to the improvement of institutional and administrative capacity, in particular of the public sector, as this is a necessary condition in order to accelerate economic growth in Slovenia.
Slovenia intends to translate the broad priorities contained in the NSRF into three operational programmes: programme for Strengthening Regional Development Potentials, programme for Human Resources Development, and programme for Environmental and Transport Infrastructure Development.
In drawing up its NSRF, Slovenia had to take account of the Community guidelines for 2007-2013 which place particular emphasis on innovation, research and technological development, the information society, environmental protection, renewable energy sources and creating more and better jobs.
The NSRF has been drafted by the Government Office for Local Self-Government and Regional Policy in cooperation with numerous institutions.
Local Government Minister Ivan Zagar expressed pleasure over the fact that the document was confirmed, saying that Slovenia could now "make the next step in development".
Zagar expects that the three operational programmes which detail the acquisition of funds would be confirmed as soon as possible as well.
Huebner said after meeting Zagar in May that the documents would be confirmed before the summer holidays.
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