Brussels, 12/01/2015 (Agence Europe) - Commissioner Corina Cretu is determined to help member states absorb the structural funds still remaining in the 2007-2013 envelope and in this connection, began a number of contact meetings with the countries concerned (see EUROPE 11226).
On Monday 12 January, the European Commissioner for Regional Development had a meeting with the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, when he was in Brussels (see other article). They discussed the low European programme implementation rates in Bulgaria, particularly the 2007-2013 operational programmes. The Commissioner informed the minister about the ongoing work being carried out by the DG REGIO task force, identifying what action should be taken to increase absorption rates. The Commissioner was due to meet the Romanian minister responsible for European funds that day but the meeting was postponed until 27 January. A similar exercise will take place on 15 January with the Hungarian minister responsible for EU funds. The Commissioner will also be travelling to Slovenia and Croatia before the end of January. These two countries are also being supported by the task force in an effort to optimise the use of 2007-2013 structural funds (the other countries involved are the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Italy). (MD)