The central coordination body for the European Union funds should stay under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Construction and Regional Development, thinks Deputy Prime Minister Dusan Caplovic. "I have to ask my honorable colleague (Marian Janusek) to read through the draft bill properly," Mr. Caplovic told SITA news agency on Thursday. Proposals of the Cabinet Office of the Slovak Republic are aimed at better coordination between the ministries, he said. "We want to control where the sources from EU funds will go more efficiently so that we will not have to return them," Deputy Prime Minister Caplovic explained. If the money had to be returned, not the ministry but the government would have to pay them back. Those who do not want to understand this, harm Slovakia, he warned. The Cabinet Office wants to improve the quality and efficiency of drawing of EU funds.
Minister of Construction and Regional Development Marian Janusek (Slovak National Party -- SNS) stated on Thursday that a transfer of competencies in administration of EU funds from his ministry to the Cabinet Office would be an awful and irresponsible solution. "It would be hazarding with European Union funds, a big step back," he said at his party's press conference. He deems any such suggestion a great irresponsibility of people who are "teasing" representatives of the ruling coalition parties. "It would be a catastrophe," he underscored. Mr. Janusek specified that negotiations with the European Commission would have to be reopened in case that the EU funds agenda was taken from his ministry regarding the approved operational programs as well as the National Strategic Reference Framework.
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