Commission Report 2002 (Slovakia)

• Progress since the last Regular Report
• Overall assessment
• Conclusion

Chapter 21: Regional policy and co-ordination of structural instruments

Progress since the last Regular Report

Since the last Regular Report, progress has been made in preparing for the implementation of structural policies.

Concerning territorial organisation, in February 2002 the Slovak government adopted the provisional classification of statistical territorial units at NUTS II level as follows: Bratislava region, Western Slovakia (Trnava, Trencin and Nitra regions), Central Slovakia (Zilina and Banska Bystrica regions) and Eastern Slovakia (Presov and Kosice regions). This classification was agreed with the Commission.

There have been no particular developments since the last Regular Report regarding the legislative framework.

With regard to institutional structures, Slovakia adopted several government decisions in February and June 2002 which designate the following management structures and the Paying Authority for the implementation of the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund.

The Ministry of Construction and Regional Development is responsible for the co-ordination of programming and will be the future Managing Authority for the Community Support Framework and the Cohesion Fund. The Ministry of Finance was designated as the future Paying Authority for all the Funds. Slovakia has also designated the Managing Authorities for the operational programmes as well as (provisionally) some of the intermediary bodies.

With regard to programming, the schedule for the elaboration of the Development Plan, the 6 Operational programmes and the 2 Single Programming Documents for the objectives 2 and 3 for the Bratislava region were decided by a government decision in June 2002. The Ministry of Construction and Regional Development is responsible for the whole programming process that started in January 2002.

In order to ensure that the partnership principle is applied, a National Monitoring Committee has been set up to oversee the preparation of the Development Plan. Membership of the Monitoring Committee has already been established, based on the partnership principle. Upon accession, this Committee will be transformed into the Community Support Framework Monitoring Committee.

With regard to monitoring and evaluation, the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development is responsible for setting up an information data system containing the financial and statistical information necessary for the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the structural instruments in line with the acquis.

Some developments can be reported with respect to financial management and control.

The regulatory framework for budgeting, co-financing, financial management and control of Structural Funds has been established. An amendment of the Act on Budgetary Rules adopted in June 2002 enables multi-annual programme-oriented budgeting of Structural Funds, as well as the transfer of unused funds to the subsequent budgetary year.

Internal audit units have been established in the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Transport, Post and Telecommunication, in the Prosecutor´s Office as well as in three regional offices.

There have been no major developments since the last Regular Report regarding statistics.

Overall assessment

Slovakia has already organised its territory into units corresponding to the NUTS classification.

Slovakia has advanced as regards the setting up of institutional structures. It has designated the bodies which are to be responsible for the implementation of the Structural and Cohesion Funds. However, the allocation of tasks has still to be completed. Steps must be taken to ensure effective inter-ministerial co-ordination. Slovakia will also have to step up its efforts to bring the administrative capacity of the managing and paying authorities, intermediate bodies and other relevant bodies up to the level required. Project selection and decision-making should be managed within a framework that ensures transparency, efficiency and reliability in the implementation of programmes. Slovakia should also continue to work towards developing the necessary structures and co-ordination mechanisms to manage financial assistance from the European Social Fund in the context of the European Employment Strategy and the inclusion process.

With regard to programming, Slovakia still needs to further radically improve its programming capacity. To that end, there will need to be efficient and effective inter-ministerial co-operation and partnership throughout the whole process of preparing the Development Plan. Substantial progress must also be made with the technical preparation of projects eligible for Structural and Cohesion Funds assistance (project pipeline).

Work on ensuring compliance with the acquis requirements for monitoring and evaluation must continue, in particular as regards the ex-ante evaluation of the Development Plan. To ensure effective and efficient implementation of the Structural Funds programmes, it is crucial that an effective monitoring system should be up and running in good time.

Slovakia has progressed in the field of financial management and control. It is finalising the specific procedures for financial control, auditing, certification of expenses and correction of irregularities specifically applicable to the Structural and Cohesion Funds. However, the appropriate systems and procedures for financial management and control still need to be strengthened, in particular as regards the structure of the Managing Authorities and Paying Authority. Internal audit units have been established in the ministries responsible for the implementation of the Funds with the exception of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family. However, these departments still need to be strengthened and the training of internal auditors should be a priority in this respect.

Common guidelines for the internal audit services still need to be drawn up. Slovakia has introduced multi-annual planning of budgetary expenditure. Its budgetary legislation also contains some flexibility to transfer allocations between funds and priorities.

As far as statistics are concerned, more needs to be done to bring them up to the level required for programming, monitoring and evaluation, in particular as regards ex-ante evaluation.

Conclusion

In its 1997 Opinion, the Commission concluded that Slovakia presented only limited elements of an integrated development policy which could ensure compliance with EC structural policy rules. It suggested that a comprehensive differentiated policy addressing regional disparities should be introduced. Moreover, the Commission added that Slovakia's administrative capacity to manage integrated regional development programmes clearly needed to be improved. Thus, significant reforms including the establishment of appropriate administrative and budgetary procedures needed to be implemented before Slovakia could apply the Community rules, in order to channel effectively the funds from the EC structural policies.

Since the Opinion, Slovakia has made progress in legislative terms, and, more recently, has moved forward with taking the necessary decisions that will serve as a good basis for developing the required administrative capacity. Overall, Slovakia has already aligned with the acquis but effective administrative structures are only in place to a limited extent.

Negotiations on this chapter have been provisionally closed. Slovakia has not requested any transitional arrangements in this area. Slovakia is generally meeting the commitments it has made in the accession negotiations in this domain.

In order to be ready for membership, Slovakia needs to give urgent attention to defining the final implementation structures and very substantially reinforcing their administrative capacity, strengthening inter-ministerial co-operation and partnership, preparing an efficient project pipeline and further reinforcing systems and procedures for effective monitoring, financial management and control. Slovakia has started to take measures to remedy the situation, including the allocation of additional human resources. Ongoing efforts now need to be substantially stepped up.

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