Latvia dissatisfied with proposals for the EC EU funds regulation for the period 2014-2020
Latvia is dissatisfied with proposals for the European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy (EU funds) regulation for the period 2014-2020 published by the European Commission on Thursday, October 6. The proposals provide principles for setting the amount of financing available to EU Member States and potential areas of support, as well as EU funds management and implementation issues for the period after 2013.
Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Aleksandrs Antonovs pointed out: “Latvia is not satisfied with current proposal, because it envisages reduction of the Cohesion Policy or EU funds financing to Latvia. Latvia also believes that the EC proposal does not ensure focused enough Cohesion Policy providing support to limited number of priorities allowing achieving more visible results.”
Maintaining EU funds financing at current amount after 2013 is Latvia’s priority in negotiations on future Cohesion Policy and one of its priorities in negotiations on the EU multi-annual budget for 2014-2020, taking into account that EU funding is the only considerable source of investment for development in Latvia, as well as still there are notable social and economic differences between EU Member States and regions.
Latvia wants to improve effectiveness of the Cohesion Policy stating that Member States should report on achievements, rather than the amount of expenditure, thus reducing the expenditure control and focusing on effectiveness and added valued of this policy. For Latvia it is also important to have clear rules for EU funds implementation before drafting national programming documents, in order to avoid a situation when further interpretation of these rules hinders launching of EU funds acquisition on January 1, 2014 without retarding investment inflow in the Latvian economy and facilitating its further development.
“Negotiations on issues related to future Cohesion Policy will be difficult, but Latvia will not be alone in its position, as was proved by the joint letter sent last week by prime ministers of the Baltic States and Hungary to the European Commission on unfair rules for distribution of Cohesion Policy financing among Member States. The Ministry of Finance is looking for allies among other Member States to ensure that negotiations on the EU multi-annual budget for 2014-2020 bring the most favourable result for Latvia,” emphasises A. Antonovs.
The Ministry of Finance as the institution in charge for forming the position on future Cohesion Policy will draft Latvia’s position on proposals for the EU funds regulation for the programming period 2014-2020 and ensure representation of Latvia’s interests in negotiations at the EU level.
Information prepared by:
Agnese Beļkeviča
MoF Communication Division
Phone 67083938
Agnese.Belkevica@fm.gov.lv
