On Wednesday 9 December, the Annual Meeting on implementation of Cohesion Policy funds was held online under the leadership of the European Commission. In line with the agenda established by the EC The Ministry of Finance (FM), the Ministry of Education and Science and the Ministry of Environment and Regional Development presented the strategic direction, investment progress and achievements of the implementation of the European Union Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund (EU Funds). Discussions on the programming of the next programming period also took place. On Thursday, 10 December, the meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the EU Funds will take place, representatives delegated by the social and cooperation partners will take part in this meeting. The meeting is scheduled to be informative, to review the progress and highlight the realities of EU funds. Meeting will be broadcasted online at the FM Facebook page and the FM and the EU funds websites.
“This has been a challenging year. We are pleased that the European Commission greatly appreciates Latvia's thorough strategic planning, a robust management and control system and effective risk management, which works flexibly during the COVID-19 crisis. Despite the impact of the pandemic, we have managed to keep the investment of EU funds in Latvia's economy at the previous level,” admits Armands Eberhards, deputy State secretary of the Ministry of Finance for EU funds, stressing that the biggest work at the moment is to make the best use of the opportunities of the EU funds for this programming period and to successfully conclude the projects launched, while preparing for the new programming period 2021 to 2027 in order to avoid significant investment gaps. Armands Eberhards also underlines that it is of maximum interest to Latvia to make use of all additional funding opportunities, both the REACT-EU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility, in synergy with the investments of the EU funds.
During the meeting, EC representatives stressed that despite the fact we need to work in unpredictable and volatile circumstance of the current crisis, this period is also marked with unprecedented financial support from various EU instruments. It is now crucial to make right decisions, so that Latvian economy and society can benefit from this support, at same time addressing challenges in employment, social area, regional disparities and paving the way for the digital and green transition of the economy. With assistance of EU funds Latvia is increasing as well its resilience of the healthcare sector, assists institutions, businesses and individuals affected by the crisis and is tackling its long term structural challenges.
The meeting showed that by December 2020 contracts were concluded in Latvia for investment projects of €3.68 billion, representing 83% of the €4.4 billion of EU funding under the 2014-2020 programming period. €2.3 billion of EU fund support payments have been made to project promoters. On the other hand, EU funds received €2.2 billion in revenue from the EC State budget (including €1.8 billion of proven expenditure on investment projects).
In recent months, significant steps have been taken in the development and coordination of the operational programme of the EU funds for the programming period 2021-2027. In August and September, a public consultation on the draft operational programme took place, while at the same time, in order to ensure closer involvement of partners and the public, the FM organised thematic discussions on each investment direction, with the possibility of discussing with the sectoral ministries on the planned investments. In November, the draft operational programme was also re-consulted with the EC.
According to the EC agenda, the representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Regional Development briefed on investments in waste recycling, while the Ministry of Education and Science informed on investments in education, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 situation.
At the meeting EC was represented by Angela Martinez Sarasola, Head of the Finnish and Baltic Division of Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy and Muriel Guin, Head of the Finnish and Baltic State Division of the EC Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion.
The annual meeting took place in English and the materials examined in English are available in the document management system of the EU Fund Monitoring Committees (e-portfolio). The materials of the meeting of the EU Fund Monitoring Committee in Latvian can be consulted in the e-portfolio.
The live recording is available here.
