ZAGREB, May 30, 2018 – Croatia is expected to be allocated 8.767 billion euro under cohesion policy for the period 2021-2027, or 9.888 billion euros if inflation is taken into account, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
In the present multiannual financial period 2014-2020, Croatia has 8.6 billion euro at its disposal, expressed in prices from 2014. If inflation is taken into account, Croatia has 9.3 billion euro at its disposal in the 2014-2020 multiannual framework. This means that in the 2021-2027 financial framework, it has been given 500 million euro or 5.5% less than in the present financial period.
The biggest losers in relation to the present multiannual financial period are Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia, which, under the EC proposal would each receive 24% less cohesion funds, followed by Poland (-23.3%) and Slovakia (-21.7%). On the other hand, cohesion funds would go up for Bulgaria, Greece and Romania (+8%) as well as Italy (+6.4%), Finland (5.1%), and Spain (5%).
The Commission has also proposed an increase in national funds to co-finance programmes, which automatically means a decrease in the EU’s share.
For the poorest regions, whose GDP is below 75% of the EU average, the EC proposes that projects be financed with 70% of EU funds and 30% of national funds. Both Croatian statistical regions belong in the group of the poorest regions, which means that the share of national funds in the financing of EU projects would rise from the current 15% to 30%.
For example, the Pelješac bridge project will be financed with 85% of EU funds and 15% of national funds. In the period after 2020, the national component would increase to 30%.
As for regions in transition, whose GDP is between 75% and 100% of the EU average, the share of national funds in the financing of projects would increase to 40%, while national co-financing in the most developed regions would increase to 60%.
At its meeting in Strasbourg on Tuesday, the Commission proposed a regulation on the implementation of cohesion policy in the next multiannual financial framework, the first in a series of sectoral proposals regarding the multiannual financial framework. The Commission is due to announce proposals for all areas which are financed from the EU budget by mid-June.
Apart from funding under cohesion policy, like other countries Croatia will also have access to funds for agriculture, including rural development, funds for trans-European corridors, for research, education and youth, for stimulating structural reforms regarding the adoption of the euro, and considerable funds from the European Investment Fund.
The EC on May 2 proposed the new multiannual financial framework for the period 2021-2027, which in nominal terms is slightly bigger than the present financial framework 2014-2020, but with less funds for cohesion policy and agriculture.
For the 2021-27 period, the EC has proposed a budget of 1,135 billion euro (expressed in prices from 2018). In current prices and taking into account the expected inflation, this amounts to 1,279 billion euros.
According to the EC, cohesion funds have been reduced by 7% while according to estimates by the European Parliament, they have been slashed by around 10%.
The cohesion policy, for which 373 billion euro has been allocated in the next multiannual financial period, is the chief instrument of assistance to poorer EU regions so they can catch up with developed regions. The largest portion of cohesion funds is therefore invested in the poorest regions, whose GDP is less than 75% of the EU average, even though all regions are entitled to cohesion funds.
