Implementation of EU Cohesion Policy during the COVID-19 pandemic
Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy (GODC), Slovenian Managing Authority for the ERDF, the ESF and the Cohesion Fund, is taking swift action to address the COVID-19 related issues and challenges facing the implementation of EU Cohesion Policy in Slovenia. A dedicated subpage makes available all current guidelines and recommendations of the GODC, the Slovenian Government and the European Commission on how Cohesion Policy should be implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The subpage will be regularly updated to include any new relevant documents.
As the novel coronavirus disease continues to spread globally, it causes slowdown in all spheres of the economy. The COVID-19 outbreak also delays significantly the progress of EU-funded projects. This is considered to constitute a force majeure event - an event, occurrence or circumstance beyond the control of the beneficiary which neither could have been foreseen, avoided or overcome. This particular situation must be addressed with a set of measures that are specifically tailored to support the beneficiaries and to ensure that the project objectives and goals, including those of our national operational programme, are achieved to the greatest extent possible. The GODC has already adopted several guidelines to help beneficiaries tackle implementation problems with ongoing projects by allowing for extension of the project implementation period and the expenditure eligibility period and postponing management verifications. The subpage also makes latest guidelines on ESF spending available, and all documents are regularly updated.
We discuss and agree on the measures and guidelines with all relevant Slovenian stakeholders and observe the relevant measures and recommendations put forward by the European Commission. That is why the subpage makes a number of the European Commission’s COVID-19 related documents and interesting links available.
Visit our COVID-19 subpage at https://www.eu-skladi.si/sl/aktualno/covid19 (in Slovene).