The entire principle of financial support from European funds – so-called eurofunds – was based from the very beginning on a core idea: when our country joined the European Union, the regional disparities – not only between Slovak regions, but especially in comparison with the “old” member states – were enormous. The standard of living in Western Europe and in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe was simply incomparable. These differences needed to be bridged for the Union to function as a stable community.
A society in which one part suffers from poverty while another prospers is not sustainable in the long term. Sooner or later, such disparities manifest in public sentiment, in trust towards institutions, and in political stability.
That’s why, after joining the EU, new member states were given access to funding for projects that would otherwise have to be financed from their national budgets – such as building highways, hospitals, renovating schools and public buildings, or supporting rural development. The state should ideally finance these on its own, but after 2004, Slovakia simply didn’t have the resources. Public finances were weak following the economic transition, and without European assistance, the gap with developed countries would never have narrowed.
EU funds operate on the principle of project-based financing – you have a specific goal, a budget, and a justification for why, for example, a highway should be built between two points. Countries in our region have already gone through four programming periods, each with its own priorities. Naturally, the focus at the beginning was on basic infrastructure – roads, hospitals, schools, and public spaces. Over time, however, these priorities evolved, depending on what had already been built, as well as shifts in the economy and geopolitics.
The European Union won’t continue indefinitely funding the construction of highways once the basic network is already in place. The purpose of EU funds was never to subsidize a state’s inability to manage its own budget, but to help countries catch up and create conditions for self-sustained development.
The current programming period is therefore focused primarily on a more digital, connected, and energy self-sufficient Europe. However, such priorities assume that countries already have the basic pillars of infrastructure in place.
Unfortunately, in Slovakia, this has not been fully achieved. We cannot realistically expect to meet the goals of a digital Europe when we haven’t even built the foundations it requires. This opportunity will not come again.
It’s not about “missing the train” and crying at the station. It’s about the fact that if we want to close the gap, we now have to do it ourselves – with our own resources, with our own responsibility, and with the ability to plan. And that will be no easy task for any future government.
Source: Peter Blaškovitš, chairman of EXPORT ANALYTICA for HN
