On Thursday, February 13, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) will hold a high-level meeting with the social partners "Social dialogue and collaboration, highlights for effective implementation of Cohesion policy". During the meeting it is planned to discuss the National development plan for 2021-2027, the strategic vision for the period and future processes, timetable and the role and involvement of partners in the preparation of Cohesion policy planning documents.
“Starting a dialogue with the social partners on Cohesion policy investments after 2020 is an important point of reference in the investment planning process and the development of Latvian EU fund planning documents. Early start of the next planning period will only be possible with a joint, well-coordinated work based on mutual trust,” says Armands Eberhards, Deputy State Secretary for EU Funds Issues at the Ministry of Finance.
A sustainable and competitive economy is not compatible with current levels of territorial and social inequality. Cohesion policy has already helped a lot to decrease these gaps, but looking forward Latvia needs an even-more-targeted investment policy to reduce inequality, during the next seven years focusing on transforming to a climate-friendly economy and productivity.
Considering demographic and labour market trends, it is clear that reaching significantly closer to the standard of living of the advanced economies can only be achieved by a major leap in economic productivity in all sectors. Consideration should also be given to increased use of financial instruments to direct investments toward thoughtful projects that promote cost savings and that generate revenue.
Representatives from the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia, Employers' Confederation of Latvia, Latvian Association of Large Cities, Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Council of cooperation memorandum of Non-governmental organizations and Cabinet of Ministers and Association of Regional Development Centres are invited to the meeting.
At the same time, on February 12 and 13, technical consultations between the MoF and other ministries with the European Commission are being held on the challenges facing Latvia and strategic vision in the areas of competitiveness and territorial development in the planning period of European Union funds for the 2021-2027 planning period.
The implementation of the current EU fund planning period is still in progress and will continue until 2023. Meanwhile, active preparations are underway for the next EU fund planning period for years 2021 to 2027. It should be emphasized that the speed of development of the new EU funds programme will be affected by several parallel processes - agreement on the common EU budget framework and regulation, the negotiation process between the European Commission and Latvia on investment priorities, and the drafting of the national planning documents.
Information prepared by:
Madara Aldiņa
Senior Expert of the Communication Department
Phone: 67095656,
Email: madara.aldina@fm.gov.lv
