In Slovakia, pre-accession funds have been generally viewed as supporting
individual projects rather than Slovakia’s complex preparation for
joining the European Union. Despite the fact that the first financial memorandums
on Phare 2000, ISPA and SAPARD were signed in 1999, the potential beneficiaries
did not know how to use them. Information was late in reaching the public,
and the competent administrators themselves were not sure about the rules
of the game. All this influenced in a major way and for a long time the
programming cycle and the implementation of the projects.
Slovakia is eligible to use EUR123.6–144.6m every year. Under the 2001
financial memorandum, it was allocated EUR143.5m for that year. The government
office estimates that potential applicants are not able to fully use these
resources; about EURO15m have not been used. The biggest problem lies in
meeting the requirements of a project cycle. Contracts are signed with a
delay and not enough time is left for their implementation. It happens too
often that by the autumn of a specific year only 15 per cent of the projects
have been contracted and the rest are quickly contracted in the remaining
few months.
ISPA projects in the field of environment have suffered the same fate. Since
1999, when the first financial memorandums were signed, not a single project
has entered the implementation phase. The first project ever to be approved
– the construction of a water treatment plant at Trencin – is
already a year behind schedule. It was hoped that the project would fully
use the EUR7.9m it was allocated. The European Committee has approved a
one-year delay, but in case the project does not get under way in the next
few days, the approved funds, i.e. 50 % of the above-mentioned resources,
may be lost. Brussels has approved 11 environmental ISPA projects and has
allocated EUR105m so far (EUR121.3m for the 2000-2006 period and EUR170,7m
for ISPA transport).
Almost all ISPA environmental projects involve water protection and drinking
water management. Laszlo Miklos, Slovakia’s environment minister, has
pointed out that ISPA projects whose value exceeded EURO5m were in many
cases not usable in Slovakia. This poses a problem because most large cities
in Slovakia are anyway equipped with a water treatment plant, whereas a
lot of smaller municipalities are not. However, since water management associations
have been transformed in a way to form larger associations, this problem
has been solved. Municipalities joined in larger associations can now use
budgets that exceed EUR5m.
ISPA infrastructure projects are doing much better, with EURO1.6-1.7b allocated
so far. The reason these projects have a better chance to be successful
is that they are better prepared given that a lot of highway and railway
construction projects have been planned since 1970s. On the other hand,
not all of them are relevant to the current needs of the regions, which
means that some of the proposed projects need to be revised.
Pre-accession funds are a test of Slovakia readiness to join the EU and
its ability to use the resources available through structural funds. EUR1.6–1.7bn
are planned under the 2004–2006 budget coupled with 20bn Slovak crowns
to be provided by the Slovak Government. In conclusion, structural funds
are a challenge for Slovakia but finding the way to effectively use them
seems a painful process. Ensuring co-financing of the structural funds will
also be extremely difficult, it seems.