Sixth and Seventh Payment Requests under Recovery Plan Awaiting Final Approval

Bratislava, 1 April (TASR) - The approval of Slovakia's sixth and seventh payment requests, worth some €1.4 billion in total, will be on the EU comitology committee's agenda on 17 April, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy announced on Wednesday, citing information from the European Commission (EC). The comitology committee is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan by EU member states. "This important step comes after a positive assessment of both payment requests by the EC, confirming compliance with demanding milestones in education, healthcare and digitisation," stated the deputy prime minister's office, adding that Slovakia will then have more than €5.2 billion available out of its total €6.4 billion allocation. As regards the subsequent eighth payment request, the key deadline to complete the zoning of national parks is 30 April this year, according to representatives of the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG Reform). In this context, the Environment Ministry is currently holding intensive working meetings with environmental organisations, the Slovak Academy of Sciences, and other partners in order to submit proposals to the government by the end of April. "We are doing our best to ensure that the funds from the Recovery Plan intended for the Slovak people are directed to where they are most needed. This primarily applies to healthcare, social care and education, from which we will all benefit," stated Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD), who is currently acting as Deputy Prime Minister for the Recovery Plan and a Knowledge-based Economy. jrg