Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia with € 1 bn bonus for high growth
Ralitsa Kovacheva, April 21, 2010
Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia will share an extra € 1 billion from the structural funds of the EU in 2011-2013, the European Commission announced. The reason is that their economic growth in 2007-2009 has risen with more than 5% cumulatively compared to the forecasts when the framework for the period 2007-2013 was drawn. The reward comes automatically as a consequence of the Interinstitutional Agreement on the 2007-2013 financial framework between Parliament, Council and Commission.
The economic growth of Poland over that period was 8% higher than forecast, whereas Slovakia's and the Czech Republic's were respectively 10.8% and 7.5% higher than expected. According to thees indicators Poland will receive an extra € 633 million, the Czech Republic € 237 million and Slovakia € 138 million in structural funds.
"The higher than expected growth rate for Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia is certainly partly due to the allocation of structural and cohesion funds to these three Member States. This shows clearly the contribution of EU cohesion policy to economic growth in the beneficiary countries. The extra funding these countries will get over the next 3 years will, I am convinced, be used in the same spirit and with the same efficiency", Johannes Hahn, Commissioner in charge of Regional Policy commented.
His colleague, Financial Programming and Budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski praised the three countries for having managed to beat so convincingly growth forecasts made in 2005, despite the difficult environment. “The funds will help them continue to modernise their economies and prepare for the future", Lewandowski said.