Coronavirus: Commission approves reprogramming of €275 million in cohesion policy funding to mitigate economic and social impact of the pandemic in Slovenia

The Commission has today approved a programme modification, which provides the basis to use around €275 million of cohesion policy funding to mitigate the harmful consequences of the coronavirus outbreak and its economic and social effects in Slovenia. The resources will be invested in strengthening the emergency response capacities in the healthcare sector, providing liquidity to small businesses, protecting jobs, helping vulnerable groups with accessible social services and promoting digital technologies in the education sector. Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “Today’s decision is a result of the joint efforts of the Commission and the Slovene authorities to swiftly use the EU funding to ensure vital support to SMEs, health workers, students and those who suffered the most from the coronavirus pandemic. I am pleased to see that our Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative is already delivering concrete results in Slovenia, paving the way for prompt recovery.” The €275 million are resources that will be redirected within the Operational Programme for the Implementation of the EU Cohesion Policy 2014-2020, thanks to the exceptional flexibility under the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative (CRII). Under the Initiative (CRII), Members States can mobilise cohesion policy funding to flexibly respond to the rapidly emerging needs in the most exposed sectors because of the pandemic, such as healthcare, SMEs and labour markets. The EU also introduced extraordinary flexibility to allow the possibility for all non-utilised support from the European Structural and Investment Funds to be mobilised imminently in order to respond to the present crisis.