A central topic discussed by the Council was the closure of the European 2014–2020 financial period. According to Minister of Finance Mart Võrklaev, who attended the meeting, several Member States have requested an extension of the reporting deadline as they have not managed to implement the funds allocated for this period. “Estonia remains unaffected by this concern as we are at the forefront in closing this period, having successfully received 100% of the allocated funds, ie 3.7 billion euros. Together with Lithuania, we are the frontrunners in the EU in this regard,” he said.
During the EU period of 2014–2020, support has been provided to more than 14,500 projects in Estonia and the minister assured that measures will continue to be taken to ensure full implementation of all allocated funding. “We make significant investments for the state in education, research and development, energy, green reforms, transport, social protection and many other areas,” Võrklaev said.
Another significant topic discussed at the meeting was how to prepare Europe-wide for the funding period starting in 2028 and how to strengthen the competitiveness of the economy. It is important for Estonia to find ways to make cohesion policy even more effective, efficient and reduce red tape. “We stressed that, in addition to substantive changes, timing is also of the essence – countries must be prepared for the start of the new period earlier than before, so that they have more time to implement the funds,” Võrklaev explained. “Unfortunately, as we saw in the case of the 2021–2027 funding period, operational programmes were agreed upon only at the end of 2022 throughout Europe, which was clearly too late.”
Estonia initiated measures and investments for the 2021–2027 period well in advance, ensuring that the implementation of this period’s funds also progresses at the expected pace. The Minister of Finance reported that over the last six months, ministries have already opened 80–100% of the measures, putting a total of €2.4 billion into circulation which, in the current difficult financial situation, is a significant financial injection to foster faster recovery and growth of the economy.
In addition to the multiannual financial framework and cohesion policy, the EU General Affairs Council also deals with the enlargement of the Union, accession negotiations, institutional structure and other such issues. The Council comprises the Ministers for European Affairs and meets once a month.
VIDEOS and PHOTOS of the meeting (European Commission)
