EU approves fourth recovery payment to Slovakia amid rule of law concerns

3 months ago 20

The European Commission has approved the fourth instalment of Slovakia’s recovery plan in a preliminary decision, in which it also gave the green light to an outdated calculation of the spending limit that did not account for inflation and failed to use one of its options to pressure the Slovak government to uphold the rule of law.

After more than six months, the EU Commission on Monday evening approved the fourth disbursement of €923 million under Slovakia’s recovery plan. After pre-financing deductions, Slovakia is expected to receive €798 million, with the money due to arrive by the end of the summer, following the completion of 15 milestones.

Peter Kmec (Hlas/NI), Slovakia’s deputy prime minister in charge of the Recovery and Resilience Plan, claims that the assessment’s delay was “mainly due to the government’s new priorities, which are linked, for example, to the payment of the 13th instalment.”

“We have managed to convince the EU Commission that the introduced compensatory measures sufficiently guarantee the sustainability of the pension system in the future,” Kmec added.

With this decision, however, the European Commission also gave the green light to the outdated calculation of the expenditure ceiling for 2024. The 5.7% year-on-year increase in net expenditure did not limit the government’s plans in any way.

It was based on an outdated calculation that did not consider updated inflation developments, thus allowing Robert Fico’s government to spend generously while appearing fiscally responsible.

‘Payment on a golden platter’

The European Commission’s assessment of this payment request also raised several concerns about respect for the rule of law in Slovakia’s rule. It warned that recent changes adopted by the Slovak government, in particular the reform of the Criminal Code, could jeopardise corruption investigations, including those involving the Recovery Plan funds.

The provisional approval suggests that the European Commission has decided not to use one of its rule of law mechanisms for now.

The leading opposition party, Progressive Slovakia (PS/Renew), said that the fourth payment had been handed to the current government on “a golden platter”. PS MP Beáta Jurík recalled that the “Slovak government keeps passing laws which contravene European law”, citing the controversial reform of the RTVS as an example.

“Just because the fourth payment was unblocked, that doesn’t mean everything is fine. We are still at risk of the Commission activating the conditionality mechanism or launching an infringement on the grounds of a breach of EU law,” said Jurík.

The fourth request still requires approval by the EU Economic and Financial Committee, which has four weeks to issue its opinion.

(Barbara Zmušková, Natália Silenská | Euractiv.sk)